Flexible determination of gaming and services

ABSTRACT

According to some implementations, when a patron requests unavailable goods and/or services, at least one alternative option may be offered to that patron. The alternative option(s) may be determined in a variety of ways. For example, the patron&#39;s preferences may be compared to a database of available options. However, casino preferences and/or third party preferences may also be considered when determining an alternative option. In some instances, casino preferences and/or third party preferences may be accorded more weight than the preferences of at least some patrons. In some such implementations, however, third party preferences will be accorded less weight than the preferences of certain patrons, e.g., those patrons having a relatively high expected economic value to the gaming establishment.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to methods and devices forproviding games, such as wagering games, as well as other goods andservices.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Currently there are criteria-based systems which look at factors such asplayer location or age and make a determination as to whether goods orservices, such as wagering games, may be offered. In general, thedetermination is a “go/no go” determination according to the particularjurisdiction and/or to the particular person. These systems do notconsider whether it is actually practical to offer the service, so theresult can be limited and/or unhelpful to the player. For example, whileit might be legal to allow a player to play Wheel of Fortune™ at alocation, it might not actually be possible to do so because there areno Wheel of Fortune™ machines nearby and/or available.

Likewise, there are preference-based systems which make decisions aboutwhat to offer players without considering if the offering is practical.Under such systems, a player might have a preference for live poker, butall poker tables might currently be full so there is no practical way tooffer the player a seat. It would be desirable to provide more versatilemethods and devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Various methods and devices relating to the flexible provision of goodsand services, including but not limited to those involving wager gaming,are provided herein. According to some implementations, when a patronrequests unavailable goods and/or services, at least one alternativeoption may be offered to that patron.

The alternative option(s) may be determined in a variety of ways. Forexample, the patron's preferences may be compared to a database ofavailable options. However, casino preferences and/or third partypreferences may also be considered when determining an alternativeoption. (As used herein, the term “casino” will mean any type ofestablishment that provides wager gaming, including but not limited toLas Vegas-type casinos, cruise ships, bars, airports, riverboats,convenience stores, etc.) In some instances, casino preferences and/orthird party preferences may be accorded more weight than the preferencesof at least some patrons. In some such implementations, however, thirdparty preferences will be accorded less weight than the preferences ofcertain patrons, e.g., those patrons having a relatively high expectedeconomic value to the gaming establishment.

Some embodiments of the invention provide an apparatus or system thatincludes the following elements: an interface system comprising at leastone network interface; a logic system comprising at least one logicdevice, the logic system configured to do the following: receive, viathe interface system, a request from a patron and location informationregarding the patron's location; assess currently available optionscorresponding with the patron's location; determine whether a currentlyavailable option matches the request; apply predetermined criteria todetermine an offer if it is determined that no currently availableoption matches the request, the predetermined criteria comprising thecurrently available options and patron preference data; and transmit theoffer to a device associated with the patron via the interface system.The request may comprise, for example, a wager gaming request, afood-related request, a beverage-related request, anentertainment-related request and/or a shopping request.

The applying may involve one or more of the following: determining acurrently available option that most nearly matches the request;determining a rank of each of a plurality of currently availableoptions; or determining a rank of each of a plurality of entities, eachentity corresponding to at least one option. The logic system may beconfigured to change the rank of at least one entity when the patron isdetermined to be in a predetermined area. The logic system may determinethat the rank of one entity's preferences is higher than the rank of thepatron's preferences when the patron is within a predetermined area. Thelogic system may be configured to determine a rank of at least oneentity according to a monetary contribution of that entity. The rank ofat least one entity may depend on the patron's location.

Moreover, the applying may involve applying a weighting function to atleast some of a plurality of currently available options. The weightingfunction may, for example, apply a value to preferences of a third partyaccording to the relative monetary contributions of the third party. Theweighting function may apply a relatively higher value for preferencesof patrons in a higher rank of a player loyalty program.

In some implementations, the applying may involve determining an offerthat involves a first available option in a first location of the gamingestablishment. The first available option may be determined, at least inpart, because of a second available option near (e.g., within apredetermined radius of) the first location. The applying may involvedetermining an offer that involves a first available option in a firstlocation of the gaming establishment and wherein the first availableoption is determined, at least in part, because of a second availableoption. The first available option may be determined, at least in part,because of a second available option along a path between the patron'slocation and the first location.

The logic system may be configured to obtain at least some of the patronpreference data from a player loyalty database. The predeterminedcriteria may, for example, indicate preferences of at least one of aretailer, a food provider, a beverage provider and/or an entertainmentprovider. The predetermined criteria may comprise gambling restrictionsof at least one jurisdiction. The logic system may be configured todownload at least one of data or software to a device associated withthe patron if an offer acceptance indication is received from thedevice.

The location information may comprise radio frequency identification(“RFID”) data from an RFID reader. The logic system may be configured todetermine the patron's location according to a location of the RFIDreader. Alternatively, or additionally, the logic system may beconfigured to determine the patron's location according to a closestaccess point method, a triangulation process, a radio frequencyfingerprinting process, another radio frequency identification processand/or a Global Positioning System process.

The logic system may be configured to determine a jurisdiction in whichthe patron is currently located according to the location information.The assessing may involve assessing the available options of a gamingestablishment if the logic system determines that the patron iscurrently in, or in the vicinity of, the gaming establishment.

Some implementations of the invention provide methods that include thefollowing steps: determining a patron's location; assessing availableoptions in a gaming establishment corresponding with the patron'slocation; applying predetermined criteria to determine an offer, thepredetermined criteria comprising the available options and preferencedata, the preference data comprising patron preference data, casinopreference data and third party preference data; and providing the offerto the patron.

The method may further involve receiving a request from the patron. Theapplying may involve comparing the request with the predeterminedcriteria. The request may, for example, comprise a wager gaming request,a food-related request, a beverage-related request, anentertainment-related request and/or a shopping request.

If a request for an unavailable option is received, the applying stepmay involve determining an alternative available option. Determining analternative available option may, for example, involve determining analternative available option that most nearly matches the request and/orapplying a weighting function to a plurality of available options. Theweighting function may apply a relatively higher value for preferencesof patrons in a higher rank of a player loyalty program. The weightingfunction may apply a value to preferences of a third party according tothe relative monetary contributions of the third party.

The determining may involve determining the patron's location in agaming establishment. For example, the determining may comprise aclosest access point method, a triangulation process, a radio frequencyfingerprinting process a radio frequency identification process and/or aGlobal Positioning System process.

The applying may involve determining a rank for at least one type ofpreference data. Determining a rank may, in some instances, involvedetermining whether the patron is within a predetermined area. Apatron's rank may sometimes be determined, at least in part, byreference to a player loyalty account associated with the patron.

The applying may comprise applying a weighting function to at least onetype of preference data. Applying a weighting function may, for example,involve applying a relatively higher value for preferences of patrons ina relatively higher rank of a player loyalty program and/or applying avalue to preferences of a third party according to the relative monetarycontributions of the third party.

At least one of the available options may correspond with the patron'slocation in the gaming establishment. The applying may comprisesdetermining an offer that involves a first available option in a firstlocation of the gaming establishment. The first available option may bedetermined, at least in part, because of a second available option near(e.g., within a predetermined radius of) the first location. The firstavailable option may be determined, at least in part, because of asecond available option along a path between the patron's location andthe first location. The first and second available options may or maynot involve the same types of opportunities for a patron. For example,the first available option may comprise a wager gaming option and thesecond available option may comprise a retail option, a food option, abeverage option, an entertainment option and/or a second type of wagergaming option.

The patron preference data may comprise the patron's personalpreferences and/or preferences of one or more categories of patrondemographics. The categories of patron demographics may comprise atleast one of age ranges or gender. The patron preference data maycomprise data from a player loyalty account corresponding to the patron.The casino preference data may comprise preferences of at least one of acasino operator, a gaming machine provider or a casino manager. Thethird party preference data may comprise retailer preference data(indicating preferences of at least one retailer), preferences of atleast one food provider, preferences of at least one entertainmentprovider and/or at least one beverage provider. At least some of thepreference data may correspond to a promotional campaign.

At least some of the predetermined criteria may be time-dependent and/orlocation-dependent. For example, the predetermined criteria may indicategambling restrictions of at least one jurisdiction.

Some devices and/or systems provided herein may include the followingelements: apparatus for receiving a request from a patron; apparatus fordetermining the patron's location; apparatus for assessing availableoptions in a gaming establishment corresponding with the patron'slocation; apparatus for applying predetermined criteria to determine anoffer, the predetermined criteria comprising the available options andpreference data, the preference data comprising patron preference data,casino preference data and third party preference data; and apparatusfor transmitting the offer to a device associated with the patron. Theassessing apparatus and/or the applying apparatus may comprise a server,a host device, etc.

The apparatus for determining the patron's location may comprise atleast one of a Global Positioning System device, a cellular telephonetower, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant, a radiofrequency identification (“RFID”) tag and/or an RFID reader. Theapparatus for determining the patron's location may comprise a logicdevice (e.g., a processor or a programmable logic device) thatdetermines the patron's location according to input from at least one ofa Global Positioning System device, a cellular telephone and/or acomponent of a cellular telephone system (e.g., a cellular telephonetower), a personal digital assistant, a radio frequency identification(“RFID”) tag and/or an RFID reader.

The apparatus for assessing available options may sometimes determinethat the request is for an unavailable option. The system (e.g., theapplying apparatus) may be configured for determining an alternativeavailable option.

The offer may sometimes involve a first available option in a firstlocation of the gaming establishment. At least one of the predeterminedcriteria may involve a second available option near (e.g., within apredetermined radius of) the first location. At least one of thepredetermined criteria may involves a second available option along apath between the patron's location and the first location.

The device associated with the patron may be any of various types ofsuitable devices, e.g., a mobile device, a wager gaming machine, etc.The system may also comprise apparatus for assessing available optionsin a jurisdiction corresponding with the patron's location (and/or thelocation of a device associated with the patron). If the apparatus fordetermining the location determines that the patron and/or the deviceassociated with the patron is not in or near a gaming establishment, theapplying apparatus may apply rules of the jurisdiction as part ofdetermining the offer.

The request may comprise a gaming request. The offer may comprise agaming offer. The system may further comprising apparatus for providinga game to the device associated with the patron if the patron accepts agaming offer.

Determining an alternative available option may or may not involvedetermining an alternative available option that most nearly matches therequest. Determining an alternative available option may compriseapplying a weighting function to a plurality of available options. Theweighting function may apply a relatively higher value for preferencesof patrons in a higher rank of a player loyalty program. The weightingfunction may apply a value to preferences of a third party according tothe relative monetary contributions of the third party.

Some devices and/or systems provided herein include the followingelements: a location determining system that is configured todetermining a patron's location; an interface system configured forreceiving a request from a patron; and a logic system comprising atleast one logic device (e.g., a processor, a programmable logic device,etc.) The logic system may be configured to do the following: assessavailable options in a gaming establishment corresponding with thepatron's location; apply predetermined criteria to determine an offer,the predetermined criteria comprising the available options andpreference data, the preference data comprising patron preference data,casino preference data and third party preference data; and cause theoffer to be transmitted, via the interface system, to a deviceassociated with the patron. At least part of the logic system may residewithin a server.

The interface system may comprise a network interface. The interfacesystem may comprise a wireless interface.

The location determining system may comprise a Global Positioning Systemdevice, a cellular telephone tower, a cellular telephone, a personaldigital assistant, a radio frequency identification (“RFID”) tag, and/oran RFID reader. The location determining system may comprise at leastone device configured for locating wireless devices via closest accesspoint, triangulation and/or RF fingerprinting methods.

The logic system may be further configured to determine whether therequest is for an unavailable option, and wherein the applying stepcomprises determining an alternative available option if the request isfor an unavailable option. A patron request may comprise a preferreddenomination for wager gaming and/or a request pertaining to a group ofpatrons (e.g., a request to play together, to dine together, to sittogether, etc.)

Some methods provided herein include these steps: determining a patron'slocation in a gaming establishment; determining whether a location-basedbonus corresponds with the patron's location, the location-based bonusnot being associated with a wager gaming session that currently involvesthe patron; and providing the location-based bonus to the patron if itis determined that the location-based bonus corresponds with thepatron's location.

These and other methods of the invention may be implemented by varioustypes of hardware, software, firmware, etc. For example, some featuresof the invention may be implemented, at least in part, by a personaldigital assistant, by a portable gaming device and/or other type ofmobile device, by one or more host devices, servers, cameras, etc. Someembodiments of the invention are provided as computer programs embodiedin machine-readable media. The computer programs may includeinstructions for controlling one or more devices to perform the methodsdescribed herein.

Some systems of the invention include a plurality of servers and/orother devices that can provide functions relating to the flexibleprovision of goods and services. Device functionality may be apportionedby grouping or dividing tasks in any convenient fashion. Therefore, whensteps are described herein as being performed by a single device (e.g.,a single server), the steps may alternatively be performed by multipledevices and vice versa.

Logic systems comprising one or more logic devices (such as processors,programmable logic devices, etc.) may be configured to perform variousfunctions relating to the invention. For example, a logic system may beconfigured to assess available options and/or to determine analternative option that may be offered to a patron. A logic system maybe configured to determine the relative weighting for patronpreferences, casino preferences and/or third party preferences.

In some implementations, the relative weighting may be based, at leastin part, on a patron's rank and/or category. A logic system may beconfigured to determine a patron's expected economic value to the gamingestablishment. A logic system may be configured to rank and/orcategorize the patron, at least in part, according to the expectedeconomic value.

The system may further comprise apparatus for tracking the patron'slocation while the person is within, or in the vicinity of, the gamingestablishment. The tracking apparatus may comprise apparatus forcommunicating the person's location via the network. For example, thetracking apparatus may comprise one or more components of a cameranetwork, a Global Positioning System (“GPS”), a radio frequencyidentification (“RFID”) network a network of wireless access pointsand/or another type of network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an example of a gaming establishment and related devicesthat may be used for some implementations of the invention.

FIG. 2 is flow chart that outlines steps of some methods of theinvention.

FIG. 3 is an example of a data structure that may be used in connectionwith some implementations of the invention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are examples of data structures that may be used inconnection with some implementations of the invention.

FIG. 5 provides an example of a data structure that may be used inconnection with some implementations of the invention.

FIG. 6 provides an example of another data structure that may be used inconnection with some implementations of the invention.

FIG. 7 provides an example of a data structure that may be used inconnection with some implementations of the invention.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are examples of data structures that may be used inconnection with some implementations of the invention.

FIG. 9 provides yet another example of a data structure that may be usedin connection with some implementations of the invention.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are examples of data structures that may be used inconnection with some implementations of the invention.

FIGS. 11A, 11B and 11C provide more examples of data structures that maybe used in connection with some implementations of the invention.

FIG. 12 is flow chart that outlines steps of additional methods of theinvention.

FIG. 13 is flow chart that outlines steps of alternative methods of theinvention.

FIG. 14 is a table that indicates one example of ranking andcategorizing patrons.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart that outlines another method of the invention.

FIG. 16 illustrates a gaming network that may be used for someimplementations of the invention.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of an Arbiter and other devices that may beused for some implementations of the invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram of a network device (e.g., a server) that may beconfigured according to some implementations of the invention.

FIG. 19 depicts one example of a wager gaming machine that may be usedin connection with some implementations of the invention.

FIG. 20 illustrates another gaming network configuration that may beused in connection with some implementations of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

While the present invention will be described with reference to a fewspecific embodiments, the description is illustrative of the inventionand is not to be construed as limiting the invention. Variousmodifications to the present invention can be made to the preferredembodiments by those skilled in the art without departing from the truespirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

FIG. 1 depicts a simplified example of a portion of a casino configuredfor implementing some aspects of the invention. It will be appreciatedthe layout, the numbers and types of cameras, gaming machines and otherdevices, shops, etc. indicated in FIG. 1 are purely for the sake ofexample and that other layouts, etc., are within the scope and spirit ofthe invention.

In this example, gaming establishment 100 includes valet area 130, lobby102 and nearby shops 104, 106, 108, 110 and 112. These shops may includea range of retail establishments, including but not limited to souvenirshops, jewelry stores, clothing stores and the like. Food and beverageestablishments 114, 116, 118 and 120 may include restaurants, sushibars, buffets, or any such dining and/or drinking establishment.

Bar 122 is an island in the midst of the main casino/gaming area 126that includes various gaming machines 127. Preferably, at least some ofgaming machines 127 are configured for communication with other devices,including but not limited to one or more of servers 148, in order toprovide various features discussed elsewhere herein. Auditorium 124includes a stage and seating (not shown) for live performances. At themoment indicated in FIG. 1, a number of patrons 160 are exitingauditorium 124. Other portions of the casino may include additionalwager gaming machines, various types of gaming tables and other featuresnot depicted in FIG. 1.

Operators 145 and various devices for providing services and managinggaming establishment 100 may be seen in control room 128. This areaincludes host devices 142 to facilitate the communication of operators145 with various other devices, such as other host devices 142 (whichmay serve as cash registers, hotel registration terminals, etc.), PDAs138, laptops 140, gaming machines 127, etc. Host devices 142 maycomprise desktop computers, laptops, workstations, or other suchdevices. Operators 145 may also communicate with other people, includingbut not limited to casino personnel 147, via PDAs 138, telephones, etc.

In this example, casino security functions as well as functions specificto the present invention may all be performed (at least in part) bydevices and/or people in control room 128. However, in alternativeimplementations, the security personnel and/or devices may be located ina separate location. Moreover, as described below, some implementationsinvolve communications between a gaming establishment and otherlocations, e.g., communications between a gaming establishment and acentral system and/or communications between gaming establishments.

Accordingly, host devices 142 (and other devices, as needed) may beconfigured for communication with servers 148, computing devices 150,storage devices 152 and external network 158, via gateway 154 andfirewall 156. Network 158 is the Internet in this example, but may beone or more public or private networks. According to someimplementations of the invention, additional storage devices and relateddevices may be accessed via network 158, e.g., a storage area network(“SAN”) or other types of network storage.

Control room 128 includes a plurality of monitors 143 for, inter alia,receiving image data from cameras 132. Cameras 132 may include, forexample, “smart cameras,” closed circuit television (“CCTV”) cameras,closed circuit digital photography (“CCDP”) cameras, range camerasand/or webcams. Accordingly, the image data displayed on monitors 143may include still digital images, video feeds, freeze-frames, etc. Suchimage data may be used for various purposes, including not only securitypurposes known in the art but also some implementations of the presentinvention.

Servers 148 and/or computing devices 150 may be configured to performvarious functions, including but not limited to real-time playertracking and/or player loyalty functions, patron identificationfunctions (including but not limited to biometric functions such asfacial recognition functions), patron location functions, licensing,gaming, accounting, security services, etc. These functions may includethose known in the art and those specific to the present invention. Atleast some of servers 148 may be configured for communication withcameras 132 and other devices (such as host devices), in order toprovide real-time player tracking functionality and other methodsdescribed herein.

Some such implementations involve computer vision, machine vision and/orfacial recognition systems. For example, some implementations of theinvention leverage the ability of smart cameras. A smart camera is anintegrated machine vision system which, in addition to image capturecircuitry, normally includes a processor configured to extractinformation from images without the need for an external processingunit. A smart camera generally includes an interface system forcommunication with other devices. Some smart cameras can identifyphysical characteristics of individuals, even in a crowd, and trackidentified individuals as they move through the crowd.

For example, Tyxz, Inc. announced on Dec. 19, 2006 that its DeepSea™ G2Vision System was able to successfully track visitors to an exhibit atthe Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City.The DeepSea™ G2 Vision System may be configured for communication withother devices (e.g., other cameras, devices in control room 128, etc.)via TCP/IP. Accordingly, such smart cameras could provide useful datafor implementing some aspects of the present invention.

A facial recognition system is a computer-driven application foridentifying a person from one or more digital images. This is generallyaccomplished by comparing selected facial features in the live imagewith stored facial recognition data. Facial recognition data (some ofwhich may be referred to as a “faceprint” or the like) may be comparedto other types of data for more reliable identification. Such data mayinclude biometric data, such as fingerprint or eye iris recognition dataobtained from biometric devices 176 or elsewhere. Some embodiments ofthe invention provide for biometric devices 176 to gather biometric dataunobtrusively, e.g., by including a fingerprint and/or thumbprint readerin one or more control buttons of a gaming machine. According to someimplementations of the invention, a tentative patron identification maybe evaluated in view of other biometric data, player preference data(e.g., as previously compiled in a player loyalty and/or player trackingdatabase), hotel data, retail data, restaurant/beverage data and/orother data that may be available from other parts of gamingestablishment 100 or elsewhere.

Facial recognition algorithms include eigenface, fisherface, the HiddenMarkov model, and the neuronal motivated Dynamic Link Matching. Anemerging trend uses the visual details of the skin, as captured instandard digital or scanned images. However, two-dimensional facerecognition algorithms have shown to be sensitive to changes inlighting, different facial expressions, make-up and head orientation.

Three-dimensional face recognition (3D face recognition) methods involvethe three-dimensional geometry of the human face. Some details of recent3D face recognition methods are described by A. M. Bronstein, M. M.Bronstein and R. Kimmel in “Three-Dimensional Face Recognition” (Intl.Journal of Computer Vision, Vol. 64/1, pp. 5-30, August 2005), which ishereby incorporated by reference. It has been shown that 3D facerecognition methods can achieve significantly higher accuracy than their2D counterparts, rivaling fingerprint recognition in accuracy. Some 3Dface recognition techniques involve measuring geometry of relativelyrigid features of the face. Other methods use a 3D model to improveaccuracy of traditional 2D facial recognition techniques by transformingthe head into a known view. Some 3D face recognition methods implementdepth perception by projecting a grid onto the face and integratingvideo capture of the face into a high-resolution 3D model. 3D facerecognition methods generally require the acquisition of 3D images,which may require a range camera. Accordingly, the data storage andcomputational requirements for 3D face recognition methods are likely tobe greater than those for 2D methods.

Computing devices 150 may be desktop computers, workstations, bladeservers, mainframe computers, supercomputers or other such devices. Thetype and number of computing devices 150 may be selected according tothe speed and number of calculations and other processes that will berequired of them. For example, one or more of computing devices 150 (orother devices) may be used for processing data from cameras 132 (such ascalculations for facial recognition systems and/or patron tracking), forcalculations involved in biometric data analysis and/or other patronidentification processes, etc.

In some implementations, each of the camera units may be remotelyconfigured, e.g., by one or more devices of control room 128. In somesuch implementations, all camera units of a similar type may share thesame rules and parameters. However, this need not be the case.Particularly when the cameras are individually addressable, specificrules and parameters can be applied as necessary. For example, certaincameras may record data only at specific times or when specificthresholds were reached, such as when at least a threshold number ofmoving objects (e.g., three or more) are in view. Preferably, all cameraunits will use consistent time codes to insure that data obtained fromdifferent cameras can be meaningfully combined.

In some implementations, selective compression may be automaticallyapplied to the images so that the data transmission requirements wouldbe reduced. For example, the system may apply minimal compression tofloor areas where players or other people appear (or are likely toappear) and higher levels of compression to static background areas ofthe image.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, a plurality of radio frequencyidentification (“RFID”) readers 144 are disposed in various locations ofgaming establishment 100. RFID readers 144 and related devices may beused, for example, to read and determine the location of a patron's RFIDdevice. Such a device may be a dongle, a bracelet, a “smart card” (whichmay serve as a player loyalty and/or player tracking card) or anothersuch device. RFID readers 144 and related devices may also be used todetermine the location of a portable gaming device that includes an RFIDtag, etc. Further examples of how RFID readers 144 and related devicesmay be used according to the present invention are described elsewhereherein.

Accordingly, some of network devices 146 may be switches, middlewareservers and/or other intermediate network devices in communication withRFID readers 144 and at least one of servers 148 that may be configuredto provide RFID functionality, such as patron identification and/orlocation functionality. Depending in part on the size of the gamingestablishment(s) involved, the number of RFID readers, etc., it may beadvantageous to deploy various RFID-related devices at varioushierarchical levels of an RFID network, which may include devicesoutside of gaming establishment 100. Some such devices and networks aredescribed in “The EPCglobal Architecture Framework: EPCglobal FinalVersion of 1 July 2005,” which is hereby incorporated by reference.

Some network devices 146 may comprise wireless access points forproviding a communication link with wireless devices, including but notlimited to PDAs 138, cellular telephones and the like. Some such devicesmay comprise a wireless local area network (“WLAN”) that may include,e.g., the wireless access points, switches, servers, host devices, etc.

In some implementations, servers 148 and/or other devices may beconfigured to provide one or more methods for locating wireless usersand/or devices, such as “closest access point,” triangulation and “RFfingerprinting” methods. Each of these methods provides a varying degreeof device location information and precision.

Using a closest access point method, a location tracking systemidentifies devices within the total coverage area of a single wirelessaccess point. A network management system (or the like) may be used tosearch for a device and/or a user by name, e.g., by entering, “FindBinh” into the search field. After the query is submitted, an accesspoint associated with Binh's device responds.

A closest access point method may or may not provide a desired degree ofaccuracy. For example, if a wireless access point covers a circle with aradius of approximately 30 feet, then the closest access point methodonly indicates that Binh's device is within that 30 foot radius,somewhere within an area of approximately 189 square feet. This greaterthe coverage area of the wireless access point, the less accurate thelocation provided by the closest access point method. This degree ofaccuracy may be acceptable for many purposes related to the presentinvention, e.g., determining whether a patron's device is within apredetermined radius of a gaming table, a retail establishment, oranother location relating to an option and/or offer that may be providedto a patron.

Triangulation methods may be able to locate a device more accuratelythan closest access point methods, but at greater computational cost.Triangulation methods involve multiple devices, e.g., multiple accesspoints, multiple RFID readers, etc., to locate a device based onrelative signal strength. For example, triangulation may involvemultiple access points and be based on the received signal strength of adevice at each access point. Using any convenient triangulationalgorithm known in the art, an intersection point of the device's signalmay be determined at each access point to identify the device's mostlikely location.

Using triangulation in a WLAN, for example, a command may be transmittedfrom an operator's device to find a wireless device and a call may goout to all access points on the network. Each access point that detectsthe device's signal may respond to the request with informationregarding signal strength. Access points that fail to detect thedevice's signal do not respond. The more access points that respond, thegreater the accuracy of the final result with the device's approximatelocation.

In some such examples, a “location tool” (which may comprise, forexample, specialized software, hardware and or firmware) may drawcoverage circles on a map around each access point that detects thedevice's signal. Each coverage circle defines the boundary of the signalstrength of the access point receiving the signal from the device. If,for example, an access point detects the device at −65 dBm (anabbreviation for the power ratio in decibels (dB) of the measured powerreferenced to one milliwatt (mW)), then a network management system (orthe like) may draw a circle defining a −65 dBm area. If another accesspoint detects the device at −45 dBm, then that coverage circle may bedrawn smaller, indicating that the signal strength was higher.Accordingly, signal strength information provided by each access pointmay be factored into the final determination of the device's location.

When a location tool (or the like) finishes recording the information,it may identify a number of line intersections. Algorithms may then beused to determine the most likely location of the device within theintersections. There is a high probability that the area with thehighest density of intersecting lines will indicate the correct locationof the device.

Triangulation methods generally do not take into account the effectsthat a building and/or other objects can have on a signal. Moreover,triangulation methods generally do take into account characteristicssuch as attenuation or reflection. In an area with no walls or objectsthat can block a signal, triangulation may often yield reasonablyaccurate results. With triangulation, accuracy is reduced if the signalis reflected off of the walls in a room or if the signal has takenmultiple paths before reaching the device.

RF fingerprinting methods are generally more complex than triangulationmethods or closest access point methods. However, some RF fingerprintingmethods can determine a device's location quite accurately. For example,some systems that employ a Cisco Wireless Location Appliance® use RFfingerprinting technology to track mobile devices to within a fewmeters.

With some implementations of RF fingerprinting, RF prediction may beused to create a grid mapped to a floor plan that includes many physicalcharacteristics and all access points in a given area. For fineraccuracy, actual measurements and a calibration can be taken. With RFfingerprinting, real-world data regarding physical objects in a givenarea may be gathered by access points and compared to the grid. A pointon a grid may represent an area as small as, e.g., six inches.

To determine characteristics of an RF signal at various locations, an RFfingerprinting location tool may predict how the RF signal is likely tointeract with features within a building, e.g., within a casino. With RFprediction, factors including reflection, attenuation, and multi-pathsare calculated. A location tracking system may populates a database withinformation about each coordinate and how each access point views thatcoordinate from a signal strength perspective.

Since there can be many reflections and paths, RF fingerprinting may berather computationally intensive. Computation may be repeated for everycoordinate and access point on the grid. Many different access pointsmay be able to detect a device from a location point on the grid. Eachaccess point will generally detect the device at different signalstrengths.

In some RF fingerprinting implementations, when a network administratorseeks a wireless device, each access point replies with the signalstrength of the devices it detects. In this respect, the process issimilar to that of triangulation. However, in some RF fingerprintingimplementations, the location tracking system takes the information itreceives from the access points and compares this information withinformation in the database of location “fingerprints.” Apparent matchesmay be reported.

Moreover, one or more of servers 148 (and/or other devices) may beconfigured to synthesize various types of patron data. For example, oneof servers 148 may be configured to determine whether a “read” from anRFID player loyalty device corresponds with the location (and/oridentification) of a particular patron whose activities correspond witha defined event of interest to the casino. The server may use theindicated location to synchronize patron tracking data from a smartcamera, e.g., by plotting the indicated location on the same displayused for a smart camera's patron tracking display.

Other casinos may or may not have RFID readers and/or an associated RFIDnetwork. However, most aspects of the present invention can beimplemented regardless of whether a casino has these features. Forexample, a device (e.g., a server) may synchronize camera data andlocation data in other ways, e.g., by making a correspondence between aknown location and an image of the location, e.g., making acorrespondence between a known location of a gaming machine and an imageof the gaming machine. An operator (or a device, such as a smart camera)could make a correspondence between a patron of interest and an area ofa map grid, e.g., a grid displayed on a display screen and superimposedon an image of the casino floor (e.g., an overhead view). In one suchexample, an operator could indicate a patron of interest by touching anarea of a touch screen corresponding to the patron and the location.

Some implementations of the invention provide a mesh of networked cameraunits that provides a video-based infrastructure for tracking people andactivities of interest. Some such implementations involve playertracking (and related activities) in casinos.

However, the invention is not limited to casino-related implementations.Instead, some video-based infrastructures of the invention (and relatedmethods) have wide applicability to other contexts. For example, manyother types of businesses could benefit from identifying valuedcustomers or potential customers, collecting data regarding theseindividuals and/or providing enhanced services to them. Such businessesmay include retail establishments such as department stores, motorvehicle dealerships, power and sailboat dealerships, jewelers, watchdealers, etc. (particularly for those establishments that providehigh-end merchandise), as well as high-end night clubs, restaurants andthe like. Relevant devices and methods are described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/844,267 (Attorney Docket No. IGT1P408/P-1221),filed on Aug. 23, 2007 and entitled “MULTIMEDIA PLAYER TRACKINGINFRASTRUCTURE”, which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

Some implementations of the invention will now be described withreference to FIG. 2. It will be appreciated that the steps of method 200(as with other methods shown and described herein) are not necessarilyperformed in the order indicated. It should also be understood that themethods of the invention may include more or fewer steps than areindicated. The steps of method 200 may be performed, at least in part,by one or more devices in a network, such as servers, host devices, etc.For example, the steps of method 200 may be performed, at least in part,by a logic system of a server or another such device, the logic systemcomprising one or more logic devices such as processors, programmablelogic devices, firmware, etc.

In step 205, a patron request is received. The request may be a requestfor goods and/or services, including but not limited to services relatedto wager gaming. If the request involves wager gaming, the request mayindicate a preferred denomination, game type, etc. In some instances,the request may pertain to a single patron, whereas in other examplesthe request may pertain to a group of patrons. For example, the group ofpatrons may wish to play at the same gaming table, dine together, etc.The request may be sent from a device associated with a patron (e.g., awager gaming machine, a personal computer, a personal digital assistant(“PDA”) or other wireless device, etc. The request may be received,e.g., by a network interface of a device that is performing at leastsome of the steps of method 200.

Step 205 is optional, in that some implementations of the invention donot require receipt of a patron request to initiate the other steps. Forexample, some implementations may provide options to a patron whether ornot the patron sends a request. Moreover, in some implementations, arequest may be received at any time and is not necessarily the firststep in a process.

In this example, however, after receiving the patron request in step205, the patron's location is determined in step 210. The patron'sidentity may also be determined. For example, it may be determinedwhether the patron is a member of a casino's player loyalty program. Thepatron's age and other demographic information may be determined.

In some implementations, step 210 will involve determining that a patronis not in the vicinity of a gaming establishment. Accordingly, assessingthe options available at the patron's location (step 215) may involvedetermining the legal jurisdiction corresponding to the patron'slocation and determining what goods, services, etc., it may be legal tooffer the patron. If the patron has an associated device (such as apersonal computer, a portable device, etc.) that may be used for wagergaming, that device may be identified in step 210. Assessing the optionsavailable at the patron's location (step 215) may involve determiningwhat types of wagering games may be presented on the patron's device.This determination may involve an assessment of what wagering games arelegal in the patron's jurisdiction, which of those (if any) may legallybe played outside of a gaming establishment and what wagering games arecompatible with the device (e.g., according to its operating system,user interfaces, display(s), memory, processing capabilities, thebandwidth/speed of the network connection, etc.).

Here, the patron who sent the request is in or near a gamingestablishment: the patron is in the process of walking around theestablishment, assessing the lounge, the pool and other features.Therefore, in the present example, step 210 involves determining apatron's location in, or in the vicinity of, a gaming establishment.Accordingly, assessing the options at the patron's location (step 215)preferably involves assessing what options are available in or near thegaming establishment.

In step 220 and/or in step 235, predetermined criteria may be applied todetermine an offer. In some implementations, the criteria may be appliedby one or more logic devices according to instructions, a rule set, etc.The software, firmware and/or hardware involved may sometimes bereferred to herein as a “rules engine” or the like.

As described in more detail below with reference to FIG. 3 et seq., thepredetermined criteria may comprise the available options, the offerreceived, jurisdictional rules, patron age, proximity of options to thepatron's location, the capabilities of the patron's device(s) and/orpreference data. The preference data may include, e.g., patronpreference data, casino preference data and/or third party preferencedata.

Many other factors may be assessed, depending on the particularimplementation. These factors include, but are not limited to, thefollowing: jurisdictional/local requirements; location; player age; GPSposition; cell tower, access point or other triangulation position;other position information; time since last verified position; playerID; device ID/capabilities; software ID; time (e.g., time of day and/ortime the player has already spent gambling, as compared tojurisdictional limits); account balance; history/track record ofresponsible play; current promotions; player value (e.g., the player'sperceived economic value to a gaming establishment); and genre (e.g.,the general types of games that a player tends to play, the types ofgames that players of a demographic group tend to play, etc.).

In some implementations, if it is determined in step 225 that thepatron's desired option is available, the patron's desired option willbe offered in step 230. However, if it is determined in step 225 that nocurrently available option matches the request, predetermined criteriamay be applied to determine an alternative option to offer to thepatron. (Step 235.) The predetermined criteria may include the currentlyavailable options and patron preference data. The predetermined criteriamay include the available options and other types of preference data,such as casino preference data and/or third party preference data.

However, as described below, in some implementations the patron'spreferences may not be given as much weight in the decision-makingprocess as the preferences of the casino, the preferences of a thirdparty, etc. Accordingly, the “desired option” that is determined to beavailable (or not) in step 225 may be an option that the casino or athird party would prefer to have offered to the patron.

The applying step(s) may involve determining a rank of each of aplurality of persons and/or entities. Each person or entity maycorrespond to at least one option and/or preference. For example, alogic system may be configured to determine a rank of at least one thirdparty according to a monetary contribution of that third party. Such arank may correspond to assigning a higher priority to the preferences ofthat third party and the associated options.

For example, a third party may sponsor a poker tournament at a casinoduring a particular weekend. The third party may pay at least apredetermined amount of money (e.g., $200,000) in order to have thehighest rank/priority level in the casino's flexible determinationsystem. Accordingly, during that weekend, that third party's preferencesmay have the highest priority of any third party. Options selected bythe third party, such as poker tournament offers, poker-themed events,merchandise and services related to the tournament, etc., may be givenhigher priority than the preferences and associated option(s) offered byanother third party.

In some implementations, the preferences of the sponsoring third partymay supersede at least some patrons' preferences during the relevanttime period. However, in some such implementations, the preferences ofhighly-ranked patrons (e.g., those at a high level of a player loyaltyprogram or who have exhibited other indicia of high economic value tothe casino) may nonetheless be given priority over the preferences ofthe sponsoring third party.

Alternatively, or additionally, the applying step(s) may involveapplying a weighting function to at least some of a plurality ofcurrently available options. In some implementations, options may beassessed according to one or more weighting functions. In some suchimplementations, the weighting function may apply a value to preferencesof a third party according to the relative monetary contributions of thethird party. Similarly, the weighting function may apply a relativelyhigher value for preferences of patrons in a higher rank of a playerloyalty program.

Some weighting function implementations may determine which party'spreferences will be given the highest priority by comparing a valuecalculated for each party in question. For example, suppose that oneoption (e.g., a Little Green Men™ slot game) matches a patron's toppreference. The third party sponsor of the aforementioned pokertournament would prefer that the patron be offered a seat at a pokertable or a video poker game. In this example, the third party'spreferences are assigned a relatively high weighting factor, e.g., 8 ona scale of 1 to 10.

If the patron has a very high economic value to the casino, the patron'spreferences may be assigned a relatively high weighting factor (e.g., avalue of 9 or 10). Therefore, the preferences of such high-value patronsmay supersede those of the third party and the patron may be offered aLittle Green Men™ slot game. The preferences of an average patron may beassigned a lower weighting function, e.g., 5 out of 10. Therefore, thepreferences the third party would trump those of such average patrons:these patrons may be offered a seat at a poker table or a video pokergame. More detailed examples of weighting and weighting functions areprovided below.

Whether or not the patron is in the vicinity of a gaming establishment,in some implementations, step 215 (or step 220) may involve determiningwhether an option is within a predetermined distance of the patron'scurrent location. For example, if the patron has requested a seat at apoker table, step 215 (or step 220) may involve determining whether apoker table is within a predetermined distance of the patron. If morethan one desired option is within a predetermined distance of thepatron, step 215 (or step 220) may involve determining which desiredoption is closer (or closest) to the patron.

In step 245, it is determined whether the patron has accepted the optionoffered in step 230 or step 240. If so, the option is provided to thepatron. (Step 250.) For example, software for a requested wagering gamemay be downloaded to the patron's device. Alternatively, the patron maybe provided directions to a location associated with a desired option.In some such examples, directions and/or a map to the locationassociated with the desired option may be provided to the patron.

In some implementations, relatively “static” information, such as mapdata, architectural features, casino layout information, etc., may beprovided to the patron's device. In some implementations, real-timenavigation data may be provided to a device (preferably, to a mobiledevice) associated with the patron. Some embodiments may provideportable devices that can simultaneously display static information andreal-time video data. The video data may be provided by one or morecameras in a camera network. Information, such as offers,advertisements, etc., may be provided to a user according to the user'slocation. Relevant information is described in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/106,771 (Attorney Docket No. IGT1P410/P-1222), entitled“REAL-TIME NAVIGATION DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS” and filed on Apr.21, 2008, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

The patron may continue with this option for any desired amount of time,according to his or her budget, stamina, jurisdictional limitations,etc. If it is determined in step 255 that the patron will continue withthe current option, that option will continue to be provided. If not, itis determined in step 260 whether a new option will be selected. Forexample, the patron may already have lost a previously-determined amountof money, may already have wagered for the jurisdictional maximum amountof time, etc. Alternatively, the patron may simply wish to do somethingelse.

Such an indication may, e.g., be sent from a device used by the patron.Such an indication may be inferred, e.g., from a zero credit balance ata wager gaming machine, a lack of patron interaction with an associateddevice, etc. Similarly, one such indication that the patron may wishdesire another option is if a patron request is received (step 205), asin the example of FIG. 2. As previously noted, however, in someimplementations another offer may be determined and presented whether ornot a patron request is received. Moreover, if the patron has beenrecently determined to be at a known location, the step of determiningthe patron's location may or may not be performed at this juncture. Ifit is determined that no new option will be selected, the process ends.(Step 265.)

Some implementations may involve special bonuses, awards, or the like.In some such implementations, users may be encouraged to use the systemby random awards triggered by mystery scores. For example, a user with ascore of 867 might gain extra points and/or an award, e.g., a dinner fortwo coupon pushed to his or her smart phone.

Some bonuses and/or awards may be primarily (or entirely)location-based. For example, a casino may determine that at leastcertain classes of patrons (e.g., patrons of at least a predeterminedrank, at least a predetermined level of a player loyalty program, etc.)will be eligible to win an award if they happen to be in the rightlocation during a predetermined time or time period. Some suchlocation-based bonuses may not relate to a patron's current wager gamingsession (if any) and may not necessarily involve locations in whichwager gaming is permitted. For example, a patron may receive alocation-based bonus because she has wandered into a predeterminedlocation at a casino's shopping mall, because she is in a particularseat at a bar or restaurant, etc.

Examples of simplified data structures will now be described withreference to FIG. 3 et seq. Such data structures (or the like) may beused in connection with at least some of the processes described withreference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 3, for example, depicts data structure 300. This data structureindicates various types of games in column 305. Row 310 indicatesvarious jurisdictions. If an “X” appears in a column corresponding to ajurisdiction, this indicates that the corresponding game is allowed inthat jurisdiction. A data structure of the general type depicted in FIG.3 may be useful in determining what wager gaming options are legallyavailable in a patron's location, e.g., as part of the assessment ofstep 215 (see FIG. 2).

In some implementations, it may be assumed that if a gamingestablishment offers a wagering game, that wagering game is legal in thejurisdiction within which the gaming establishment is located. In somesuch implementations, if a patron is determined to be in or near agaming establishment, a determination may sometimes be made of what isactually available without a separate determination of jurisdictionalrules.

FIG. 4A provides one example of a data structure that may be used tocompare the priority of a patron's preferences with those of a casinoand third party persons and/or entities. Column 405 indicates thecategory of person or entity and column 410 indicates the correspondingrank. As with other data structures shown herein, more or fewer fields,categories, rankings, etc., may be involved. For example, data structure400 a is intended to depict the relative rank of a particular patronand/or a particular class of patrons. Accordingly, there may be anadditional patron ID field (not shown) and/or patron class/categoryfield (not shown) associated with such data structures.

Similarly, there may be specific preferences associated with one or morecategories. Examples of preference data structures for variouscategories are provided herein and described below. Moreover, some datastructures may indicate areas, times or other data that pertain to achange in ranking, e.g., one or more areas within which a particularperson's or entity's preferences will be accorded a relatively higher orlower rank.

In this example, at least some of the relative rankings may be changedunder predetermined conditions. (See column 415.) For example, thepreferences of one of the third parties may temporarily be elevatedabove those of the patron at certain times and/or under certaincircumstances, e.g., if the patron is determined to be within apredetermined area associated with one of the third parties. Some suchlocation-based examples will be discussed below with reference to FIGS.12 and 13. Temporal changes in ranking and/or weighting may involve, forexample, an increase in a patron's ranking and/or a casino's rankingduring times when the patron is already involved in a wager gamingsession, is determined to be wagering at a relatively high level, etc.Whether an override could ever make a third party's preferences exceedthe casino's preferences may depend on the implementation, the relativeeconomic value and/or financial contribution of the third party, etc.

In the example depicted in FIG. 4A, data structure 400 a corresponds toa ranking scheme that involves a highly-ranked patron. Accordingly, thepatron's preferences are ranked higher than those of any third party andeven, in this example, higher than those of the casino. This exampleinvolves differential third-party rankings, with the preferences ofthird party C ranked the highest. Nonetheless, there still may beoverrides/modifications of preferences, e.g., on a temporal basis and/orbased upon a patron location.

The example depicted in data structure 500 of FIG. 5 involves a moremoderately-ranked patron. Here, the patron's ranking is still higherthan those of third party A or third party B, but lower than that of thecasino. There still may be overrides/modifications of the ranking ofmost categories, e.g., location-based and/or temporal overrides.

Data structure 600 of FIG. 6 illustrates another example in which theranking of a patron is higher than those of third parties, but lowerthan the ranking of the casino. This example is also intended to involvea moderately valuable patron or class of patrons. Here, however, thirdparties A through E do not have a differential ranking unless there issome temporary override/modification of ranking. In some suchimplementations, a third party's preferences will only take precedenceat under predetermined conditions, e.g., at predetermined times or inpredetermined areas.

Turning now to FIG. 7, data structure 700 provides an example with alow-ranked patron or class of patrons. Here, the patron's rank is belowthat of the casino and all indicated third parties. However, this doesnot necessarily mean that the patron will never be offered an optionaccording to the patron's desires. Some implementations, for example,may use a data structure of this general type to determine analternative option to offer a low-ranked patron who has requested anoption but whose desired option is not currently available (e.g., insome implementations of step 235 of FIG. 2). However, if the patron'srequested option is available, the patron may be offered the requestedoption. Moreover, there may be times during which and/or locationswithin which the patron may have a higher relative ranking.

FIG. 8A provides a simplified example of a data structure indicatingpatron game preferences. In this example, a particular patron's gamepreferences are based on historical data, by reference to a database ofa player loyalty system of which the patron is a member. Wagering gamesand game types are indicated in column 805. Corresponding categories forthe wagering games and game types are provided in column 810. Gamerankings during two different time intervals are also provided in thisexample: rankings during the last 30 days are indicated in column 815,whereas rankings during the last 6 months are indicated in column 820.

These data may be used in various ways. For example, if this player'spreferences are given sufficient weight as compared to those of thecasino or a third party, data structure 800 a may be used to determinesuitable alternatives when the patron's requested wagering game is notcurrently available. For example, if the player requested a seat at a“Texas Hold-em” poker table and none were currently available, theplayer might be offered a seat at a 7-card stud or “Omaha” poker table.

On the other hand, if the casino were presently trying to promote a newIndiana Jones™ slot game, the casino might offer the slot game even to arelatively high-ranked patron if, as here, there is evidence that thepatron enjoys playing this game. Other uses of these types of data willbe described below, after some examples of casino preferences and thirdparty preferences are described.

FIG. 9 illustrates data structure 900, which provides additionalinformation regarding the patron, including non-gaming preference data.General categories of information are indicated in column 905 and somespecifics details regarding each category are indicated in column 910.Such data may be used for a variety of purposes.

For example, the patron's player loyalty club level and/or economicvalue data may be used to determine the relative weight to accord theplayer's preferences as compared to third party preferences and/orcasino preferences, e.g., as described above with reference to FIGS. 4through 7. These non-gaming preferences may be compared to non-gamingpreferences of one or more entities, e.g., of the casino or thirdparties. For example, if a casino or a third party wants to promote anew restaurant, an indication that the patron enjoys fine dining, finewines and single-malt scotch may help target promotions to appropriatepatrons. In some such examples, a weighting function (or the like) maycombine patron preference data with casino and/or third party preferencedata to determine a highest-ranked option to offer to the patron.

FIG. 10A indicates one example of a casino preference table. Datastructure 1000 indicates casino preferences in column 1005 andcorresponding ranks in column 1010. Casino preferences may varyaccording to timing and other circumstances, including but not limitedto what goods and services are available, which facilities the casinoowns and/or operates and which are owned and/or operated by thirdparties, etc.

In this instance, the casino has made a substantial investment inMicrosoft Surface® tables configured for table gaming, socialinteractions, etc., so the casino's highest priority at this time is topromote patron usage of these tables. The casino has also purchased anumber of REELdepth™ wager gaming machines and Indiana Jones™ slotgames. Accordingly, promoting REELdepth™ wager gaming machines ingeneral and the Indiana Jones™ slot games in particular are priorities 2and 3, respectively. In this example, the casino wishes to promote apoker tournament and a theatrical performance, both of which are beingrun by third party entities but which provide revenue to the casino.Moreover, the casino has recently opened a new night club. Thesefeatures are ranked 4, 5 and 6, respectively.

FIG. 11A indicates the preferences of third party A, which is the entitythat is organizing the poker tournament. Accordingly, data structure1100 indicates that offers relating to the tournament itself are rankedthe highest, followed by tournament merchandise and predetermined goodsand/or services relating to promoting interest in poker generally.

As suggested by FIG. 11B, third party B is presenting a NASCAR™-themedevent at the casino. Options/offers relating to the event itself havethe highest priority and rank, followed by NASCAR™-merchandise-relatedoptions. (See data structure 1110.) Options relating to a NASCAR™ slotgame, a NASCAR™-themed table game, etc., are ranked third.

In some implementations, surfaces of wager gaming machines, table games,walls, floors and/or other features of a gaming establishment (oranother environment) may display images corresponding to a promotionalevent (e.g., to a NASCAR™ theme in this example). For example, suchsurfaces may be formed, at least in part, with a bi-stable material suchas electronic ink. Relevant method and devices are provided in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/517,861 (attorney docket no.IGT1P106X2/P-894 CIP2), filed on Sep. 7, 2006 and entitled “CASINODISPLAY METHODS AND DEVICES,” which is hereby incorporated by referenceand for all purposes.

Third party C has recently opened a restaurant in the casino. Therestaurant has invested heavily in an impressive and well-stocked winecellar. Accordingly, data structure 1120 of FIG. 11C indicates thatoffers relating to the new restaurant itself are ranked number 1,followed by offers relating to high-end wines (e.g., tasting events,wine pairings with restaurant specialties and plats du jour, etc.).

Although not expressly indicated in data structures 800 a through 1120,the rankings, preference data, etc., of people and/or entities may alsocorrespond with weighting values or the like. In some implementations,these results may be combined with weighting values associated withrankings, e.g., such as those depicted in FIGS. 4 through 7.Accordingly, weighting values for an individual entity and weightingvalues for different people or entities may be applied to availableoptions via a weighting function in order to determine an overalltop-ranked option.

Referring now to FIG. 4B, one example of such a correspondence isprovided by data structure 400 b. Data structure 400 b is substantiallysimilar to data structure 400 a of FIG. 4A, except that data structure400 b includes an explicit weighting field, column 420. In this example,jurisdictional requirements will always override other factors. Allpreference categories have been assigned specific weighting factors,which (like all others provided herein) are made only by way of exampleand are not intended to be limiting. Here, patron preferences are givena weighting of 100, casino preferences 80, and so on.

Referring now to FIG. 8B, one example of assigning weights to specificpatron preferences is depicted in data structure 800 b. Here, a patron'sgame preferences are varying amounts of weight according to the mostrecent ranking data indicated in data structure 800 a. Again, theweighting values and rating methods are made only by way of example;various other weighting and ranking schemes may be used. Here, a 100%weight is assigned to the top-ranked game for the last 30 days, 90% forthe game ranked #2 and so on, with the game ranked #10 being assignedonly a 10% weight. Games ranked 11 and 12 have weightings of 0.08 and0.05, respectively. In this example, no weight is given to less recentrankings, but in other implementations such data may be factored in aswell (e.g., the rank for the last 6 months indicated in field 820 ofFIG. 8 a).

FIG. 10B provides an example of assigning weights to specific casinopreferences. Here, data structure 800 b indicates the casino'spreferences and corresponding amounts of weight. In this example, a 100%weight is assigned to the top-ranked preference (Microsoft Surface®tables), an 85% weight for the preference ranked #2 (REELdepth™machines), a 70% weight for the preference ranked #3 (Indiana Jones™games) and so on. Again, the weighting values and rating methods aremade only by way of example; various other weighting and ranking schemesmay be used. For example, the casino could assign at least a minimumweight (e.g., 50%, 75%, etc.) to all of its preferences. In one suchexample, the preference ranked #6 has a weight of 50% and the higherranked preferences have weights between 50% and 100%.

In some such implementations, third party preferences may also have sometype of weighting scheme, e.g., according to rank. Here, for example,the preferences of third party A correspond to a 100% weight for offersrelating to the top-ranked World Poker Tour™ events/tournament, a 50%weight for offers relating to World Poker Tour™ merchandise and a 25%weight for offers that may promote interest in poker games generally,including non-tournament poker play, video poker and other predeterminedoffers. (See FIG. 11A.)

One example will now be described of a method for applying a weightingfunction based on the types of rankings and weights set forth in FIGS.4B, 8B and 10B. In this example, the patron has requested a seat at apoker table where Texas Hold-em is being played, but no such seat iscurrently available. Therefore, the weights set forth in FIGS. 4B, 8Band 10B will be used to determine what alternative option to offer thepatron.

In this example, there is currently no seat available for any 7 CardStud poker game, but there is a seat available for an Omaha poker gameand a 5 Card Draw poker game. There is also an Indiana Jones™ slot gameavailable and nearby. For the sake of simplicity, these are the onlyoffers that will be considered in this example.

The patron likes Omaha poker games, which have a rank of 3 and a weightof 80% according to FIG. 8B. Here, our simplified weighting functioninvolves multiplying the 80% weight by the overall weight to be accordedthe patron's preferences, which is 100 in this example. (See FIG. 4B.)The result is 80. The casino's preference data structure and thepreference data structures for third parties B and C do not indicate anypreference for this game. (See FIGS. 10B, 11B and 11C.) However, theOmaha poker game falls under the general rubric of third party A'spreference of promoting poker games generally. (See FIG. 11A.) Thecorresponding 25% weight for such offers is multiplied by the overallweight to be accorded the preferences of third party A, which is 40 inthis example. (See FIG. 4B.) The result is 10. Combining the resultsthat correspond to the patron's preferences and all other preferencesyields a total score of 80+10=90 for the Omaha poker game option.

FIG. 8B indicates that the Indiana Jones™ slot game is ranked #4 in thepatron's preference database, corresponding to a weight of 70%.Multiplying the 70% weight by the overall weight to be accorded thepatron's preferences, which is 100 in this example, produces a result of70. Moreover, the casino has assigned a rank of 3 and a weight of 0.7 tothe Indiana Jones™ slot games. (See FIG. 10B.) Multiplying the 70%weight by the overall weight of 80 to be accorded the casino'spreferences (see FIG. 4B) produces a result of 56. No other entity hasindicated a preference for the Indiana Jones™ slot game. Combining theresults that correspond to the patron's preferences and the casino'spreferences yields a total score of 70+56=126 for the Indiana Jones™slot game option.

Referring again to FIG. 8B, the 5 Card Draw poker game is ranked #5 inthe patron's preference data structure. The corresponding weight is 60%.Multiplying the 60% weight by the 100-point weight to be accorded thepatron's preferences produces a result of 60. The preference datastructures for the casino and for third parties B and C do not includepreferences that encompass the 5 Card Draw poker game. However, the 5Card Draw poker game is included in third party A's preference forpromoting poker games generally. (See FIG. 11A.) The corresponding 25%weight for such offers is multiplied by the overall weight to beaccorded the preferences of third party A, which is 40 in this example.(See FIG. 4B.) The result is 10. Combining the results that correspondto the patron's preferences and all other preferences yields a totalscore of 60+10=70 for the 5 Card Draw poker game option.

In this simple example, a comparison of the total scores for each optionindicates that the Indiana Jones™ slot game has the highest total score.Therefore, the Indiana Jones™ slot game will be offered to the patron.

It may sometimes be the case that more than one option will have thesame overall score if the foregoing method is applied. Accordingly, oneor more “tiebreaker” methods may be applied to determine the option tobe selected. For example, in case of a tie, the relative preferenceranking (e.g., of FIG. 4B or the like) may determine the preferredoption. In such implementations, for example, if the patron'spreferences are to be given generally more weight than those of thecasino or third parties, the option having the highest rank in thepatron's preference data structure (e.g., on FIG. 8B or the like) willbe selected. Alternatively, a casino could determine that itspreferences will always govern in the event of a tie. Alternatively, oradditionally, the preferences of the third party that made the largestfinancial contribution may “win” in the event of a tie.

Some location-based ranking methods will now be described with referenceto FIGS. 12 and 13. It will be appreciated that the steps of methods1200 and 1300 (as with other methods shown and described herein) are notnecessarily performed in the order indicated. It should also beunderstood that the methods of the invention may include more or fewersteps than are indicated. The steps of methods 1200 and 1300 may beperformed, at least in part, by one or more devices in a network, suchas servers, host devices, etc. For example, the steps of methods 1200and 1300 may be performed, at least in part, by a logic system of aserver or another such device, the logic system comprising one or morelogic devices such as processors, programmable logic devices, firmware,etc. The device may be in communication with a GPS system, an RFIDsystem, a system of wireless access points, a camera system or any othersystem that may be used for determining the location of a patron and/ora patron's device.

Referring first to method 1200 of FIG. 12, in step 1205 options areevaluated and offered to a patron according to a ranking and/orweighting method. The method may be as described above or may be anothersuch method. The patron's location is monitored, e.g., while he or sheis in or near a casino. (Step 1210.)

According to some such implementations, the rank of at least one entityand/or the weighting function applied to that entity's preference(s) maydepend on the patron's location. If the patron is determined to be in apredetermined area, for example, a logic system may be configured tochange the rank and/or weighting function of at least one entityassociated with the predetermined area. In some such implementations,the logic system may determine that the rank of one entity's preferencesis higher than the rank of the patron's preferences when the patron iswithin a predetermined area. This change may apply, for example, onlywhen the patron is determined to be in a predetermined area. Therelevant rank and/or weighting function may be re-set when it isdetermined that the patron has left the predetermined area.

Therefore, if it is determined that the patron is within a predeterminedarea (step 1215), it will also be determined whether a location-basedchange to the rank of one or more people or entities should be made.(Step 1225.) For example, if a patron is within a predetermined distanceof a third party's establishment, the ranking of the third party'spreferences may be made higher than the patron's preferences and/or anyother entity's preferences. Accordingly, the patron may receive an offerto patronize the establishment. The establishment may be, for example, abar, a restaurant, a shop or other retail establishment, a coffee house,a bakery, etc.

Alternatively, the predetermined area may correspond to an area of acasino within which a tournament is taking place, within which a newproduct is being promoted, within which the casino or a third party isoffering goods or services relating to a promotion, etc. For example,the predetermined area may be one in which the casino has deployedMicrosoft Surface® tables, REELdepth™ machines, Indiana Jones™ slotgames, etc. The ranking of the casino's preferences may be made higherthan the patron's preferences and/or any other entity's preferences.Accordingly, the patron may receive an offer relating to the MicrosoftSurface® tables, REELdepth™ machines, Indiana Jones™ slot games, etc.

The predetermined area may be one in which third party A is conducting aWorld Poker Tour™ tournament or other events, offering World Poker Tour™merchandise, etc. The predetermined area may be one in which third partyB is conducting a NASCAR™ event, offering NASCAR™ merchandise, etc. Thepredetermined area may include third party C's new restaurant. If so,the relevant entity's preferences may be ranked higher than those of thepatron and/or other entities while the patron is within thatpredetermined area.

If the patron accepts the offer (as determined in step 1230), therelevant option will be provided. (Step 1235.) In this example, if it isdetermined in step 1240 that the process will continue, the patron'slocation may continue to be monitored. (Step 1210.) Otherwise, theprocess may end. (Step 1245.)

In some implementations, the locations of different types of options maybe taken into account when determining which option to offer a patron.For example, the preferences of a patron and a third party may overlap,at least to some extent, if the patron is offered a desired wager gaming(or other) option that will cause the player to be in the vicinity of alocation associated with the third party option (e.g., a store, a bar, arestaurant, an area in which promotional displays or the like are beingpresented, etc.).

Method 1300 of FIG. 13 includes some relevant steps. In this example, apatron's location and/or trajectory is determined in step 1301. Optionsare evaluated according to the patron's determined location and/ortrajectory. (Step 1305.) In step 1310, it is determined whether to makean offer that, in some way, involves a combination of two or moreoptions, possibly at two or more different locations.

In some such implementations, method 1300 may involve determining anoffer for a first available option in a first location of the gamingestablishment. In one example, the first available option may be, e.g.,a patron's desired wager gaming (or other) option. The first availableoption may be determined, at least in part, because of a secondavailable option (e.g., a third party option) near the first location.For example, the first available option may be determined, at least inpart, because the second available option is within a predeterminedradius of the first location.

Alternatively, or additionally, the first available option may bedetermined, at least in part, because of a second available option alonga path between the patron's location and the first location. In otherwords, first available option may be determined because the patron wouldbe expected to pass near the second available option while en route toan option desired by the patron.

In some such implementations, the determination of whether to combineoptions may be made in a manner similar to that described above, whereinthe point totals for various options are compared. However, some suchimplementations may involve additional steps of summing the pointscorresponding to various paths that the patron might take when goingfrom the patron's current location to the location corresponding to oneor more options.

For example, suppose the aforementioned patron has requested a seat at aTexas Hold-em poker table. Suppose further that there is a seatavailable at two such poker tables. If the patron were directed to thefirst poker table, the patron would pass though an area within which thecasino is promoting Microsoft Surface® tables. Referring to FIGS. 4B and10A, the first path would have an 80 point value. If the patron weredirected to the second poker table, the patron would pass near thecasino's new night club. Referring to FIGS. 4B and 10A, the second pathwould have a 20 point value.

In this example, it would be determined in step 1310 that options shouldbe combined. The first path would be selected. The more desirableoption, that of the seat at the first Texas Hold-em poker table, wouldinitially be offered to the patron. (Step 1315.) If the patron accepts(as determined in step 1320), the location of the first Texas Hold-empoker table would be indicated to the patron. (Step 1325.) In some suchimplementations, the specific desired path may be provided to thepatron, e.g., via directions, via an indicated line (or the like) on anavigation device, etc.

The location and/or trajectory of the patron would continue to bemonitored. (Step 1330.) When the patron is determined to be within apredetermined area, an offer corresponding to the predetermined area maybe made. (Step 1340.) Here, for example, if the patron is determined tobe within a predetermined area within which the Microsoft Surface®tables are deployed, an offer corresponding to the Microsoft Surface®tables may be made in step 1340.

The patron's location and/or trajectory may continue to be monitored.Options may continue to be evaluated and offered, according to thepatron's location and/or trajectory, ranking and weighting. (Step 1345.)The process may continue until it is determined in step 1350 that theprocess will end.

Various other types of ranking and/or classification schemes may beemployed, some of which are described in detail herein. A simple patronclassification scheme may place all patrons into one of two categories:(1) patrons worth the dedication of predetermined resources forpreference determination, tracking, option determination, etc.; and (2)patrons not worth the dedication of at least some such resources. Forexample, it may be determined that only patrons in the first categorywill have their preferences updated in real time, be tracked visually(e.g., with smart cameras), receive special services, etc., as describedin the “MULTIMEDIA PLAYER TRACKING INFRASTRUCTURE” application.

However, alternative implementations of the invention may includemultiple gradations of patrons who are deemed to be worth the dedicationof resources. For example, there could be N categories of patrons deemedto be worth the dedication of resources, with different amounts ofresources that are potentially available to and/or directed towards apatron.

FIG. 1 illustrates one such implementation, wherein N=2. Patrons 166 a,166 b, 166 c and 166 d are placed in the highest category. Here,companion 168 a of patron 166 a and companion 168 b of patron 166 b arealso placed in the highest category. This category may correspond, e.g.,with patrons whose preferences are generally ranked higher than those ofthe casino or third parties, e.g., as described above with reference toFIGS. 4A and 4B. Patrons 164 (two of whom may be seen in auditorium 124)are in the second-highest category. This category may correspond, e.g.,with patrons whose preferences are generally ranked higher than those ofthird parties but lower than those of the casino, e.g., as describedabove with reference to FIG. 5 or FIG. 6. In this example, only patronsin these two categories will receive special services, directedmarketing, etc.

In this example, patron 166 c has previously been identified as ahigh-level patron according to a defined event and aranking/categorization process. When it is determined that high-levelpatron 166 c is having a drink at bar 122, the beverage preferences ofpatron 166 c are noted in real time, are associated with the patron IDcode of patron 166 c and are stored as patron data in a player loyaltydatabase. Moreover, the game preferences of patron 166 c are determined(e.g., by reference to the player loyalty database). Gaming machine 127c is configured accordingly (e.g., by a server in control room 128). Insome implementations of the invention, multiple nearby gaming machines(e.g., the bank of gaming machines that includes gaming machine 127 c)may be configured according to the preferences of a group of patrons(e.g., patron 166 c and other patrons nearby). Special promotions (orother responses) may be directed to patron 166 c via gaming machine 127c or otherwise, e.g., via a mobile device such as a PDA, a mobile gamingdevice, a cellular telephone, etc., associated with patron 166 c.Preferably, the promotion is tailored according to information regardingthe preferences, or at least the demographics, of patron 166 c.

In this example, it is observed that high-level patron 166 b andcompanion 168 b are at the entrance of restaurant 114. The staff ofrestaurant 114 is notified that patron 166 b and companion 168 b shouldbe provided with top-level service. This notification may occur in anyconvenient fashion, e.g., via cellular phone, PDA, host device 142, etc.For example, patron 166 b and companion 168 b may be seated even if theydo not have a reservation and restaurant 114 is very busy. They may beprovided with free drinks while their table is being prepared. Theirfood and beverage selections may be noted in real time, associated withtheir patron ID codes and stored as patron data.

Similarly, when a high-level patron or companion is observed in or neara shop, their purchase types, amounts, etc., may be noted in real time,associated with their patron ID codes and stored as patron data.High-level service, discounts, free shipping, etc., may be provided. Forexample, patron 166 d purchased chocolates for a friend at candy store108. The amount and type of this purchase was noted in real time,associated with her patron ID code and stored as patron data. Patron 166d was pleased when candy store 108 shipped the chocolates to her friendat no charge. When a high-level patron or companion is observed to beleaving the gaming establishment, he or she may be given a specialfarewell.

Patrons 164 (two of whom may be seen in auditorium 124) are in thesecond-highest category. In this implementation, patrons insecond-highest category will also receive an elevated level of customerservice as compared to the average patron. A more moderate level ofpatron data will be acquired for in the second-highest category.

Although the terms “rank” and “category” may sometimes be usedsynonymously, in some implementations of the invention the terms mayhave different meanings. In such implementations, a “category”corresponds to a level of resources that a gaming establishment maypotentially direct towards a patron according to some methods of theinvention. As used herein, the term “resources” is used to include time,effort, services, comps, money, etc. In some implementations, the levelof resources corresponding with a category may be zero, but this doesnot mean that a patron will receive, e.g., no service or poor service.Instead, it means that the no additional resources, over and above thenormal level of service, amenities, etc., will be provided according tothe present invention.

Moreover, there may be several ranks that correspond with a category. Inone such example, the top five patrons (ranks 1 through 5) may be placedin the highest category, the patrons ranked 6^(th) through 20^(th) maybe placed in the next (lower) category, etc.

A similar example is illustrated in FIG. 14. Table 1400 sets forth ranks1405, categories 1410 and response levels 1415 according to oneimplementation of the invention. In this example, the top ten patrons(ranks 1 through 10) are placed in the highest category, “A,” whichcorresponds to the highest response level. The patrons ranked 11^(th)through 50^(th) are placed in the next category “B.” In this example,categories A and B may correspond, e.g., with patrons whose preferencesare generally ranked higher than those of the casino or third parties,e.g., as described above with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B. In somealternative examples, only category A corresponds with patrons whosepreferences are generally ranked higher than those of the casino orthird parties.

Patrons ranked 51^(st) through 100^(th) are placed in category “C,”which corresponds to a lower response level. In this example, category“C” corresponds with patrons whose preferences are generally rankedhigher than those of third parties but lower than those of the casino,e.g., as described above with reference to FIG. 5 or FIG. 6. All otherpatrons are placed in category “D” unless and until their statuschanges. This category may correspond, e.g., with patrons whosepreferences are generally ranked lower than those of the casino or thirdparties, e.g., as described above with reference to FIG. 7.

However, in some implementations, there may be a different level ofavailable resources corresponding to each rank. In such implementations,a rank is equivalent to a category.

In still other implementations, there is no fixed number of patrons forat least some of the categories. For example, a patron of the playerloyalty and/or player tracking program of a gaming establishment mayalways be entitled to receive (or at least potentially receive) apredetermined level of resources, regardless of the number of otherpatrons present. In such implementations, a patron who is ranked at thehighest level of such a player loyalty and/or player tracking programmight always be in category “A” of FIG. 14. Similarly, an anonymouspatron who is ranked in a predetermined level according to predeterminedcriteria/metrics may always be placed in a corresponding category.

Alternatively, or additionally, the number of anonymous patrons presentto whom resources will be directed will depend on the number of patronspresent who are in a gaming establishment's player loyalty and/or playertracking program. For example, if there are 8 patrons present who areranked at the highest level of a casino's player tracking program and 30additional players present who are ranked at the second-highest level ofthe casino's player tracking program, only 2 anonymous patrons would beeligible to be in category “A” of FIG. 14 and only 10 more anonymouspatrons would be eligible to be in category “B.” Anonymous patrons whowould otherwise have been placed in category “A” may, for example, beplaced in category “B,” to the extent that space is available.

Some implementations of the invention provide for an earlier rankingprocess, which may be a preliminary ranking process based on firstimpressions. Accordingly, a threshold determination as to which patronsare worth the dedication of resources, such as the targeting ofmarketing efforts, may already have been made. However, in someimplementations of the invention (as here), patron ranking may be adynamic process.

Some implementations involve tracking a patron's activities to determinevarious preferences, which may include gaming preferences or otherpreferences. For example, the time of day a patron likes to gamble,drink, shop, etc., what wagering games the patron prefers, etc., may betracked. These data will provide information about what types of offersthe patron may be interested in receiving at a particular time of day,day of the week, etc. Moreover, a patron's habits may also be used toverify a tentative identification based on other factors. For example,if there is a strong likelihood of a facial image match and other suchdata also match a patron's previously-observed habits, this provides ahigher likelihood of correct patron identification.

Such information may be associated with a patron ID code and stored inone or more data structures. Moreover, some such information may beadded as MPEG-7 descriptions and associated with audiovisual dataobtained regarding the patron.

Gaming and/or non-gaming activity of all patrons may be monitored tosome degree, even in implementations such as that described with respectto FIG. 14, wherein no special response will be made to patrons havingthe lowest ranking. However, the degree of monitoring may varyconsiderably, e.g., according to a patron's category. A flexibleapproach to patron monitoring may be important, particularly if patronscannot easily be monitored in a fully automated fashion, e.g., via anRFID network, by GPS, by triangulation (e.g., of a PDA, a cellulartelephone or a mobile gaming device), by using a network of near-fieldmagnetic devices, etc. Monitoring by facial recognition techniques mayrequire a combination of automated processes and human involvement, andmay therefore be more resource-intensive.

More extensive and careful monitoring may be desired for patrons in ahigh-level category: such patrons' location and/or activities may needto be closely monitored in order that a high level of service and othersuch resources are directed to the intended patrons. Such patrons may bemonitored even by resource-intensive methods, if necessary.

In contrast, the level of “monitoring” for patrons in, e.g., category Dof FIG. 7 may involve, e.g., only events that may indicate that a patronshould be considered for a higher category. For example, if a category Dpatron were to order an expensive bottle of wine at restaurant 114, thismay be considered a “high roller indicium” indicium trigger are-evaluation of the patron's rank. However, in some implementations,even the locations of category D patrons (or the like) will be tracked,e.g., if doing so will not consume a disproportionate level ofresources. For example, if the locations of such patrons may be trackedautomatically (e.g., by an RFID network), it may be done.

Responses will be provided to patrons (or not) according to theircategory, which may change over time, as well as other factors. To theextent that responses will be provided, they are preferably not onlyaccording to the patron's category, but also according to knownpreferences of the patron and/or information regarding the patron thatmay suggest such preferences, including but not limited to demographicdata. For patrons who are identified, some such preference data may bedetermined from player loyalty and/or player tracking databases, othergaming establishment-related databases, or publicly available databases.

Depending on the amount of data to be evaluated and potentially storedregarding patrons, it may be advantageous to store data in a dimensionaldatabase structure. Multi-dimensional database achieve performancelevels that are well in excess of that of relational systems performingsimilar data storage requirements. These high performance levelsencourage and enable On Line Analytical Processing (“OLAP”) and othersuch applications that can provide the ability to analyze large amountsof data with very fast response times.

Other preference data may be based on observations of the patron and/orthe patron's activities. If a patron is seen to be wearing a hat orgarment with a NASCAR-related logo, for example, offers relating to aNASCAR-related event may be directed to the patron. The degree to whichsuch observations and/or responses are made will preferably be basedupon a patron's category, in order to maintain a reasonable relationshipbetween the resources directed towards the patron and the patron'slikely value to the gaming establishment.

If there are subsequent indications that a patron in a lower categoryshould be re-categorized, it will also be determined whether there areadequate facial recognition data for the patron. If not, such data areacquired. For example, acquiring additional facial recognition data(and/or a higher level of facial recognition data) may allow a positiveidentification of the player, which in turn may reveal playerpreferences, indications of financial/economic/spending data, etc., fromone or more public or private databases. Moreover, acquiring a higherlevel of facial recognition data may allow a patron to be monitored moreeasily, thereby allowing accurately targeted responses.

If the patron engages in activities that indicate that the patron hasspent (or may spend) a significant amount of money, the patron's rankand/or category may change.

When the patron leaves the gaming establishment, the process ends.Preferably, the patron should no longer be included in a pool of patronseligible for directed resources: the patron's ID may be deleted from alist of patrons currently in the gaming establishment. In someimplementations, if the patron had been ranked, e.g., as a category “A”patron, the patron's departure could trigger a re-ranking of patronsstill thought to be in the gaming establishment.

FIG. 15 outlines some steps of method 1500, which indicates furtherdetails regarding a process of ranking and categorizing a patronaccording to some implementations of the invention. In step 1505, apatron is being monitored. In this example, the patron has alreadyentered a gaming establishment and has either been identified or atleast has an assigned code or the like, in order to allow patron data tobe associated with the patron and/or responses to be directed to thepatron (step 1510), if desired. As before, the process ends (as to thatpatron) when a patron leaves. (Steps 1520 and 1565.)

In step 1525, it is determined whether there has been some form ofpatron activity that may potentially affect a patron's rank and/orcategory. For example, the patron may have been observed shopping in anexpensive shop, e.g., for high-end jewelry, watches, clothing, etc. Anactual purchase of an expensive item, an expensive dinner, wine or otherdrinks, registering to stay in a luxury suite at the hotel, high-stakeswagering, or any other predetermined metric may cause a positiveindication for step 1525.

The patron's data will be updated, as appropriate. (Step 1530.) In someimplementations, a point-based system is applied to activitiespertaining to step 1525. In some such implementations, the number ofpoints is proportional to the amount of money spent. Gaming andnon-gaming activities may be treated as being equally significant insome implementations, but not in others. For example, a given amountwagered may be assigned a higher (or lower) point value than the sameamount spent on a bottle of wine. In some implementations, even browsingin or near a high-end shop can result in the award of points.

In some implementations of the invention, the accumulated points may beloyalty points of a patron loyalty system such as that described above,wherein points accumulated by patrons for both gaming and non-gamingactivities may be redeemed upon demand by the patrons for goods andservices. Such a program may be referred to herein as a “casinoenterprise point system” or the like. As described above, someimplementations do not require patrons to enroll in a player loyaltyprogram; points may be accumulated and redeemed anonymously. However, asnoted above, such a program may include not only gaming and non-gamingactivities in a particular gaming establishment, but also purchases (orother activities) in affiliated businesses at other sites. For gamingoperators whose enterprises span multiple jurisdictions, the systemshould differentiate clearly unique jurisdictional requirements andisolate locations that do not allow certain types of promotions orfeatures.

Preferably, points may be awarded in a flexible manner that may betailored by a gaming establishment. A particular gaming establishmentmay choose to award more (or fewer) points for each dollar spent in ahotel or in a shop than wagered in a casino. For example, at certaintimes a gaming establishment may create incentives for patrons topatronize targeted portions of a casino. At such times, patrons mayaccumulate points in a particular shop, restaurant, entertainment venue,etc., at a higher rate than during other times. A gaming establishmentmay encourage participation in a jackpot or the like by allowing apatron to qualify for the jackpot by participating in various activitiesin addition to putting money in gaming machine, such as spending moneyin a retail location, buying a meal and/or a drink, making a purchasefrom a hotel room, playing a game from a hotel room, etc. A particulargaming establishment may desire to change point accumulation criteriabased on various criteria, such as time of day, time of year (e.g.,holidays), during special events (e.g., NASCAR weekend) or conferences,spend rates, patron rank/category, target spending criteria, etc.

According to method 1500, each event that may change a patron's statusmay not necessarily trigger a re-assessment of patron ranking. In thisexample, it is determined whether a threshold is exceeded before such are-ranking process is triggered. (See optional step 1535.) The thresholdmay be relative (e.g., to a last point total of a patron) or absolute(e.g., with reference to “break points” between categories of patronsand/or levels of a player loyalty and/or player tracking program). Thethreshold(s) may be dynamically adjustable, e.g., to prevent re-rankingprocesses from being initiated too frequently when a gamingestablishment is busy.

If such a threshold is exceeded, the patrons are re-ranked. In thisexample, there are multiple rankings within at least some categories(e.g., as described with reference to FIG. 7). Therefore, it is thendetermined whether the re-ranking process has resulted in a change incategory for one or more patrons. (Step 1545.) If so, the category isupdated in step 1550.

In step 1555, it is determined whether other types of patron data arenow desirable, in view of a change in patron category. For example, if apatron was previously in a lower category (e.g., category C or D of FIG.7) and has been re-classified in a sufficiently higher category (e.g.,category A or B of FIG. 7), it may now be worth making a more concertedeffort to identify a patron and/or search databases for spending,preference and other information regarding the patron. If the patron hasnot previously been identified, a preliminary step may be theacquisition of additional biometric data. (Step 1560.) For example,image data suitable for a 3D facial recognition process may be acquiredand the 3D facial recognition process may be invoked.

If additional patron data are acquired, they are associated with thepatron and stored. (Step 1530.) Such data may be used in both amonitoring process (step 1505) and to determine appropriate responsesfor a patron. (Step 1510.)

Some networks described herein provide methods and devices for managingone or more networked gaming establishments. Such networks may sometimesbe referred to herein as server-based gaming networks, sb™ networks, orthe like. Some such gaming networks described herein allow for theconvenient provisioning of networked gaming machines and other devicesrelevant to casino operations. Game themes may be easily andconveniently added or changed, if desired. Related software, includingbut not limited to player tracking software, peripheral software, etc.,may be downloaded to networked gaming machines and other devices, suchas kiosks, networked gaming tables, player stations, etc.

Relevant information is set forth in U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/225,407 (Attorney Docket No. IGT1P237/P-1051), by Wolf et al.,entitled “METHODS AND DEVICES FOR MANAGING GAMING NETWORKS” and filedSep. 12, 2005, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/757,609 by Nelsonet al., entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR GAMING DATA DOWNLOADING”(Attorney Docket No. IGT1P213/P-657) and filed on Jan. 14, 2004, in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/938,293 by Benbrahim et al., entitled“METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR DATA COMMUNICATION IN A GAMING SYSTEM”(Attorney Docket No. IGT1P199/P-909) and filed on Sep. 10, 2004, in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/225,337 (Attorney Docket No.IGT1P185/P-1017) by Nguyen et al., filed Sep. 12, 2005 and entitled“DISTRIBUTED GAME SERVICES,” in U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/225,408 (Attorney Docket No. IGT1P253) by Kinsley et al., entitled“METHODS AND DEVICES FOR AUTHENTICATION AND LICENSING IN A GAMINGNETWORK” and filed Aug. 1, 2005, in U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/078,966 (Attorney Docket No. IGT1P034X2/P-277 CIP2) by Nguyen et al.,filed Mar. 10, 2005 and entitled “SECURED VIRTUAL NETWORK IN A GAMINGENVIRONMENT,” in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/173,442 (AttorneyDocket No. IGT1P153/P-991) by Kinsley et al., filed Jul. 1, 2005 andentitled “METHODS AND DEVICES FOR DOWNLOADING GAMES OF CHANCE” and inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/810,888 (Attorney Docket No.IGT1P390/P-1200) by Graham et al., filed Jun. 6, 2007 and entitled“DATABASE QUERIES WITHIN A GAMING MACHINE,” all of which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety and for all purposes.

One example of an sb™ network is depicted in FIG. 16. Those of skill inthe art will realize that this architecture and the relatedfunctionality are merely examples and that the present inventionencompasses many other such embodiments and methods.

Here, casino computer room 1620 and networked devices of a gamingestablishment 1605 are illustrated. Gaming establishment 1605 isconfigured for communication with central system 1663 via gateway 1650.Gaming establishments 1693 and 1695 are also configured forcommunication with central system 1663.

In some implementations, gaming establishments may be configured forcommunication with one another. In this example, gaming establishments1693 and 1695 are configured for communication with casino computer room1620. Such a configuration may allow devices and/or operators in casino1605 to communicate with and/or control devices in other casinos. Insome such implementations, a server in computer room 1620 may controldevices in casino 1605 and devices in other gaming establishments.Conversely, devices and/or operators in another gaming establishment maycommunicate with and/or control devices in casino 1605.

For example, a server of casino 1605 or central system 1663 may beprovisioned with relatively more advanced software (e.g., 3-D facialrecognition software) for patron identification than servers of othernetworked locations. Such a server may process patron identificationrequests from devices in casino 1605 as well as patron identificationrequests from devices in gaming establishments 1693 and 1695.

Here, gaming establishment 1697 is configured for communication withcentral system 1663, but is not configured for communication with othergaming establishments. Some gaming establishments (not shown) may not bein communication with other gaming establishments or with a centralsystem.

Gaming establishment 1605 includes multiple gaming machines 1621, eachof which is part of a bank 1610 of gaming machines 1621. In thisexample, gaming establishment 1605 also includes a bank of networkedgaming tables 1653. However, the present invention may be implemented ingaming establishments having any number of gaming machines, gamingtables, etc. It will be appreciated that many gaming establishmentsinclude hundreds or even thousands of gaming machines 1621 and/or gamingtables 1653, not all of which are necessarily included in a bank andsome of which may not be connected to a network.

Some gaming networks provide features for gaming tables that are similarto those provided for gaming machines, including but not limited tobonusing, player loyalty/player tracking and the use of cashlessinstruments. Relevant material is provided in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/154,833, entitled “CASHLESS INSTRUMENT BASED TABLE GAMEPROMOTIONAL SYSTEM AND METHODOLOGY” and filed on Jun. 15, 2005 (attorneydocket no. IGT1P035X3), U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.60/858,046, entitled “AUTOMATED PLAYER DATA COLLECTION SYSTEM FOR TABLEGAME ENVIRONMENTS” and filed on Nov. 10, 2006 (attorney docket no.IGT1P061X5P), U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/129,702, entitled“WIDE AREA TABLE GAMING MONITOR AND CONTROL SYSTEM” and filed on May 15,2005 (attorney docket no. IGT1P115), U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/425,998 entitled “PROGRESSIVE TABLE GAME BONUSING SYSTEMS ANDMETHODS”, filed Jun. 22, 2006 (attorney docket no. IGT1P238/P-1049) andU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/225,299, entitled “UNIVERSAL CASINOBONUSING SYSTEMS AND METHODS” and filed on Sep. 12, 2005 (attorneydocket no. IGT1P243), all of which are incorporated herein by reference.Accordingly, software related to such features may be provided and/orcontrolled, and related data may be obtained and/or provided, accordingto the present invention.

Some configurations can provide automated, multi-player roulette,blackjack, baccarat, and other table games. The table games may beconducted by a dealer and/or by using some form of automation, which mayinclude an automated roulette wheel, an electronic representation of adealer, etc. In some such implementations, devices such as cameras,radio frequency identification devices, etc., may be used to identifyand/or track playing cards, chips, etc. Some of gaming tables 1653 maybe configured for communication with individual player terminals (notshown), which may be configured to accept bets, present an electronicrepresentation of a dealer, indicate game outcomes, etc.

Some gaming networks include electronically configurable tables forplaying table games. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/517,861,entitled “CASINO DISPLAY METHODS AND DEVICES” and filed on Sep. 7, 2006(attorney docket no. IGT1P106X2), describes some such tables and ishereby incorporated by reference. An operator may select a desired game,such as a poker game or a blackjack game, and the table will beautomatically configured with geometrical patterns, text, etc., whichare appropriate for the desired table game. The desired type of tablegame may be selected by a control on the table itself or according toinstructions received from, e.g., a server or a casino manager via anetwork interface.

Gaming establishment 1605 also includes networked kiosks 1677. Dependingon the implementation, kiosks 1677 may be used for various purposes,including but not limited to cashing out, prize redemption, redeemingpoints from a player loyalty program, redeeming “cashless” indicia suchas bonus tickets, smart cards, etc. In some implementations, kiosks 1677may be used for obtaining information about the gaming establishment,e.g., regarding scheduled events (such as tournaments, entertainment,etc.), regarding a patron's location, etc. Software related to suchfeatures may be provided and/or controlled, and related data may beobtained and/or provided, according to the present invention. Forexample, in some implementations of the invention, kiosks 1677 may beconfigured to receive information from a patron, e.g., by presentinggraphical user interfaces.

In this example, each bank 1610 has a corresponding switch 1615, whichmay be a conventional bank switch in some implementations. Each switch1615 is configured for communication with one or more devices incomputer room 1620 via main network device 1625, which combinesswitching and routing functionality in this example. Although variouscommunication protocols may be used, some preferred implementations usethe Gaming Standards Association's G2S Message Protocol. Otherimplementations may use IGT's open, Ethernet-based SuperSAS® protocol,which IGT makes available for downloading without charge. Still otherprotocols, including but not limited to Best of Breed (“BOB”), may beused to implement various aspects of the invention. IGT has alsodeveloped a gaming-industry-specific transport layer called CASH thatrides on top of TCP/IP and offers additional functionality and security.

Here, gaming establishment 1605 also includes an RFID network,implemented in part by RFID switches 1619 and multiple RFID readers1617. An RFID network may be used, for example, to track objects (suchas mobile gaming devices 1670, which include RFID tags 1627 in thisexample), patrons, etc., in the vicinity of gaming establishment 1605.Some examples of how an RFID network may be used in a gamingestablishment are set forth in U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/655,496, entitled “DYNAMIC CASINO TRACKING AND OPTIMIZATION” andfiled on Jan. 19, 2007 (Attorney Docket No. IGT1P082C1X1/P-713 CON CIP)and in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/599,241, entitled“DOWNLOADING UPON THE OCCURRENCE OF PREDETERMINED EVENTS” and filed onNov. 13, 2006 (Attorney Docket No. IGT1P118C1X1/P-303 CON CIP), all ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference.

As noted elsewhere herein, some implementations of the invention mayinvolve “smart” player loyalty instruments, such as player trackingcards, which include an RFID tag. Accordingly, the location of suchRFID-enabled player loyalty instruments may be tracked via the RFIDnetwork. In this example, at least some of mobile devices 1670 mayinclude an RFID tag 1627, which includes encoded identificationinformation for the mobile device 1670. Accordingly, the locations ofsuch tagged mobile devices 1670 may be tracked via the RFID network ingaming establishment 1605. Other location-detection devices and systems,such as the global positioning system (“GPS”), may be used to monitorthe location of people and/or devices in the vicinity of gamingestablishment 1605 or elsewhere.

Various alternative network topologies can be used to implementdifferent aspects of the invention and/or to accommodate varying numbersof networked devices. For example, gaming establishments with largenumbers of gaming machines 1621 may require multiple instances of somenetwork devices (e.g., of main network device 1625, which combinesswitching and routing functionality in this example) and/or theinclusion of other network devices not shown in FIG. 16. Someimplementations of the invention may include one or more middlewareservers disposed between kiosks 1677, RFID switches 1619 and/or bankswitches 1615 and one or more devices in computer room 1620 (e.g., acorresponding server). Such middleware servers can provide varioususeful functions, including but not limited to the filtering and/oraggregation of data received from switches, from individual gamingmachines and from other devices. Some implementations of the inventioninclude load-balancing methods and devices for managing network traffic.

Storage devices 1611, sb™ server 1630, License Manager 1631, Arbiter1633, servers 1632, 1634, 1636 and 1638, host device(s) 1660 and mainnetwork device 1625 are disposed within computer room 1620 of gamingestablishment 1605. In practice, more or fewer devices may be used.Depending on the implementation, some such devices may reside in gamingestablishment 1605 or elsewhere.

One or more devices in central system 1663 may also be configured toperform, at least in part, tasks specific to the present invention. Forexample, one or more servers 1662, storage devices 1664 and/or hostdevices 1660 of central system 1663 may be configured to implement thefunctions described in detail elsewhere herein. These functions mayinclude, but are not limited to, communications with and/or collectingdata from devices such as cameras 1609, RFID readers 1617, wager gamingmachines 1621, gaming tables 1653, mobile devices 1670, etc.

For example, one or more of the servers of computer room 1620 may beconfigured with software for receiving a player's wager gamingnotification parameters, determining when a wagering conditioncorresponds with the wager gaming notification parameters and/orproviding a notification to the player when the wagering conditioncorresponds with the wager gaming notification parameters. Moreover, oneor more of the servers may be configured to receive, process and/orprovide image data from cameras 1609, to provide navigation data topatrons (e.g., to indicate the location of and/or directions to a gamingtable, a wager gaming machine, etc., associated with a wager gamingnotification), etc.

For example, navigation data (which may include map data, casino layoutdata, camera image data, etc.) may be provided by one or more of theservers of computer room 1620 to mobile devices 1670. Someimplementations of the present invention include a plurality ofnetworked cameras 1609, which may be video cameras, smart cameras,digital still cameras, etc. In some such implementations, such camerasmay provide, at least in part, real-time navigation features such asthose described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/106,771 (attorneydocket no. IGT1P410/P-1222), entitled “Real-Time Navigation Devices,Systems and Methods,” which is incorporated herein by reference.

Other devices that may be used in connection with the present inventiondo not appear in FIG. 16. For example, some networks for implementingthe present invention may include not only various radio frequencyidentification (“RFID”) readers 1617, but also RFID switches, middlewareservers, etc., some of which are not depicted in FIG. 16. These featuresmay provide various functions related to the present invention. Forexample, a server (or another device) may determine a location of amobile device 1670 according to the location of an RFID reader thatreads an RFID tag 1627.

The servers and other devices indicated in FIG. 16 may be configured forcommunication with other devices in or outside of gaming establishment1605, such as host devices 1660, kiosks 1677 and/or mobile devices 1670,for implementing some methods described elsewhere herein. Servers (orthe like) may facilitate communications with such devices, receive andstore patron data, provide appropriate responses, etc., as describedelsewhere herein.

Some of these servers may be configured to perform tasks relating toaccounting, player loyalty, bonusing/progressives, configuration ofgaming machines, etc. One or more such devices may be used to implementa casino management system, such as the IGT Advantage™ Casino Systemsuite of applications, which provides instantaneous information that maybe used for decision-making by casino managers. A Radius server and/or aDHCP server may also be configured for communication with the gamingnetwork. Some implementations of the invention provide one or more ofthese servers in the form of blade servers.

Some preferred embodiments of sb™ server 1630 and the other serversshown in FIG. 16 include (or are at least in communication with)clustered CPUs, redundant storage devices, including backup storagedevices, switches, etc. Such storage devices may include a “RAID”(originally redundant array of inexpensive disks, now also known asredundant array of independent disks) array, back-up hard drives and/ortape drives, etc.

In some implementations of the invention, many of these devices(including but not limited to License Manager 1631, servers 1632, 1634,1636 and 1638, and main network device 1625) are mounted in a singlerack with sb™ server 1630. Accordingly, many or all such devices willsometimes be referenced in the aggregate as an “sb™ server.” However, inalternative implementations, one or more of these devices is incommunication with sb™ server 1630 and/or other devices of the networkbut located elsewhere. For example, some of the devices could be mountedin separate racks within computer room 1620 or located elsewhere on thenetwork. Moreover, it can be advantageous to store large volumes of dataelsewhere via a storage area network (“SAN”).

Computer room 1620 may include one or more operator consoles or otherhost devices that are configured for communication with other deviceswithin and outside of computer room 1620. Such host devices may beprovided with software, hardware and/or firmware for implementingvarious aspects of the invention. However, such host devices need not belocated within computer room 1620. Wired host devices 1660 (which aredesktop and laptop computers in this example) and wireless devices 1670(which are PDAs in this example) may be located elsewhere in gamingestablishment 1605 or at a remote location.

Some embodiments of the invention include devices for implementingaccess control, security and/or other functions relating to thecommunication between different devices on the network. In this example,arbiter 1633 serves as an intermediary between different devices on thenetwork. Arbiter 1633 may be implemented, for example, via software thatis running on a server or another networked device. Some implementationsof Arbiter 1633 are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/948,387, entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR NEGOTIATINGCOMMUNICATIONS WITHIN A GAMING NETWORK” and filed Sep. 23, 2004 (the“Arbiter Application”), which is incorporated herein by reference andfor all purposes. In some preferred implementations, Arbiter 1633 is arepository for the configuration information required for communicationbetween devices on the gaming network (and, in some implementations,devices outside the gaming network). Although Arbiter 1633 can beimplemented in various ways, one exemplary implementation is discussedin the following paragraphs.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a simplified communication topologybetween gaming machine 1621, network computer 1723 and Arbiter 1633.Network computer 1723 may be, for example, a server or other devicewithin computer room 1620 or elsewhere. Although only one gaming machine1621, one network computer 1723 and one Arbiter 1633 are shown in FIG.17, it should be understood that the following examples may beapplicable to different types of networked devices in addition to gamingmachine 1621 and network computer 1723, and may include differentnumbers of network computers 1723, Arbiters 1633 and gaming machines1621. For example, a single Arbiter 1633 may be used for securecommunications among a plurality of network computers 1723 and tens,hundreds or thousands of gaming machines 1621. Likewise, multipleArbiters 1633 may be utilized for improved performance and otherscalability factors.

Referring to FIG. 17, the Arbiter 1633 may include an arbiter controller1721 that may comprise a program memory 1722, a microcontroller ormicroprocessor (MP) 1724, a random-access memory (RAM) 1726 and aninput/output (I/O) circuit 1728, all of which may be interconnected viaan address/data bus 1729. The network computer 1723 may also include acontroller 1731 that may comprise a program memory 1732, amicrocontroller or microprocessor (MP) 1734, a random-access memory(RAM) 1736 and an input/output (I/O) circuit 1738, all of which may beinterconnected via an address/data bus 1739. It should be appreciatedthat although the Arbiter 1633 and the network computer 1723 are eachshown with only one microprocessor 1724, 1734, the controllers 1721,1731 may each include multiple microprocessors 1724, 1734. Similarly,the memory of the controllers 1721, 1731 may include multiple RAMs 1726,1736 and multiple program memories 1722, 1732. Although the I/O circuits1728, 1738 are each shown as a single block, it should be appreciatedthat the I/O circuits 1728, 1738 may include a number of different typesof I/O circuits. The RAMs 1724, 1734 and program memories 1722, 1732 maybe implemented as semiconductor memories, magnetically readablememories, and/or optically readable memories, for example.

Although the program memories 1722, 1732 are shown in FIG. 17 asread-only memories (ROM) 1722, 1732, the program memories of thecontrollers 1721, 1731 may be a read/write or alterable memory, such asa hard disk. In the event a hard disk is used as a program memory, theaddress/data buses 1729, 1739 shown schematically in FIG. 17 may eachcomprise multiple address/data buses, which may be of different types,and there may be an 1/0 circuit disposed between the address/data buses.

As shown in FIG. 17, the gaming machine 1621 may be operatively coupledto the network computer 1723 via the data link 1725. The gaming machine1621 may also be operatively coupled to the Arbiter 1633 via the datalink 1749, and the network computer 1723 may likewise be operativelycoupled to the Arbiter 1633 via the data link 1747.

Communications between the gaming machine 1621 and the network computer1723 may involve different information types of varying levels ofsensitivity resulting in varying levels of encryption techniquesdepending on the sensitivity of the information. For example,communications such as drink orders and statistical information may beconsidered less sensitive. A drink order or statistical information mayremain encrypted, although with moderately secure encryption techniques,such as RC4, resulting in less processing power and less time forencryption. On the other hand, financial information (e.g., accountinformation, winnings, etc.), download information (e.g., game and/orperipheral software, licensing information, etc.) and personalinformation (e.g., social security number, personal preferences, etc.)may be encrypted with stronger encryption techniques such as DES or 3DESto provide increased security.

As disclosed in further detail in the Arbiter Application, the Arbiter1633 may verify the authenticity of devices in the gaming network,including but not limited to devices sending queries and/or remoteprocedure calls to gaming machines. The Arbiter 1633 may receive arequest for a communication session from a network device. For ease ofexplanation, the requesting network device may be referred to as theclient, and the requested network device may be referred to as the host.The client may be any device on the network and the request may be for acommunication session with any other network device. The client mayspecify the host, or the gaming security arbiter may select the hostbased on the request and based on information about the client andpotential hosts. The Arbiter 1633 may provide encryption keys (sessionkeys) for the communication session to the client via the securecommunication channel. Either the host and/or the session key may beprovided in response to the request, or may have been previouslyprovided. The client may contact the host to initiate the communicationsession. The host may then contact the Arbiter 1633 to determine theauthenticity of the client. The Arbiter 1633 may provide affirmation (orlack thereof) of the authenticity of the client to the host and providea corresponding session key, in response to which the network devicesmay initiate the communication session directly with each other usingthe session keys to encrypt and decrypt messages.

Alternatively, upon receiving a request for a communication session, theArbiter 1633 may contact the host regarding the request and providecorresponding session keys to both the client and the host. The Arbiter1633 may then initiate either the client or the host to begin theircommunication session. In turn, the client and host may begin thecommunication session directly with each other using the session keys toencrypt and decrypt messages. An additional explanation of thecommunication request, communication response and key distribution isprovided in the Arbiter Application.

Referring again to FIG. 16, the communication link(s) between casino1605 and central system 1663 preferably have ample bandwidth and may,for example, comprise one or more T1 or T3 connections and/or satellitelinks having comparable bandwidth, etc. Network 1629 is the Internet inthis example. However, it will be understood by those of skill in theart that network 1629 could include any one of various types ofnetworks, such as the public switched telephone network (“PSTN”), asatellite network, a wireless network, a metro optical transport, etc.Accordingly, a variety of protocols may be used for communication onnetwork 1629, such as Internet Protocol (“IP”), Fibre Channel (“FC”), FCover IP (“FCIP”), Internet SCSI (“iSCSI,” an IP-based standard forlinking data storage devices over a network and transferring data bycarrying SCSI commands over IP networks) or Dense Wavelength DivisionMultiplexing (“DWDM,” an optical technology used to increase bandwidthover existing fiber optic backbones).

If a host device is located in a remote location, security methods anddevices (such as firewalls, authentication and/or encryption) should bedeployed in order to prevent the unauthorized access of the gamingnetwork.

Similarly, any other connection between gaming network 1605 and theoutside world should only be made with trusted devices via a securelink, e.g., via a virtual private network (“VPN”) tunnel. For example,the illustrated connection between sb™ server 1630, gateway 1650 andcentral system 1663 (that may be used for communications involvingperipheral device software downloads, etc.) is advantageously made via aVPN tunnel. Details of VPN methods that may be used with the presentinvention are described in the reference, “Virtual PrivateNetworks-Technologies and Solutions,” by R. Yueh and T. Strayer,Addison-Wesley, 2001, ISBN#0-201-70209-6, which is incorporated hereinby reference and for all purposes. Additionally VPNs may be implementedusing a variety of protocols, such as, for example, IP Security (IPSec)Protocol, Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol, Multiprotocol Label Switching(MPLS) Protocol, etc. Details of these protocols, including RFC reports,may be obtained from the VPN Consortium, an industry trade group(http://www.vpnc.com, VPNC, Santa Cruz, Calif. ).

Alternatively, a permanent virtual circuit (“PVC”) can be established toprovide a dedicated and secure circuit link between two facilities,e.g., between a casino and central system 1663. A PVC is a virtualcircuit established for repeated use between the same data terminals. APVC could be provided, for example, via AT&T's Asynchronous TransferMode (“ATM”) switching fabric. Some implementations provide a dedicatedline from an endpoint (e.g., from casino 1605) into the ATM backbone.Other implementations provide a connection over another network (e.g.,the Internet) between an endpoint and the nearest device of the ATMbackbone, e.g., to the nearest edge router. In some suchimplementations, the fixed-sized cells used in the ATM switching fabricmay be encapsulated in variable sized packets (such as Internet Protocolor Ethernet packets) for transmission to and from the ATM backbone.

For security purposes, information transmitted to, on or from a gamingestablishment may be encrypted. In one implementation, the informationmay be symmetrically encrypted using a symmetric encryption key, wherethe symmetric encryption key is asymmetrically encrypted using a privatekey. The public key may, for example, be obtained from a remote publickey server. The encryption algorithm may reside in processor logicstored on the gaming machine. When a remote server receives a messagecontaining the encrypted data, the symmetric encryption key is decryptedwith a private key residing on the remote server and the symmetricallyencrypted information sent from the gaming machine is decrypted usingthe symmetric encryption key. A different symmetric encryption key isused for each transaction where the key is randomly generated. Symmetricencryption and decryption is preferably applied to most informationbecause symmetric encryption algorithms tend to be 100-10,000 fasterthan asymmetric encryption algorithms.

Some network implementations may use Trusted Network Connect (“TNC”),which is an open architecture provided by the Trusted Network ConnectSub Group (“TNC-SG”) of the Trusted Computing Group (TCG). TNC enablesnetwork operators to provide endpoint integrity at every networkconnection, thus enabling interoperability among multi-vendor networkendpoints. Alternatively, or additionally, the Secure Internet FileTransfer (“SIFT”) may be employed. SIFT allows devices to send andreceive data over the Internet in a secure (128-bit encryption) methodof transport.

Providing secure connections between devices in a gaming network, suchas the connections between the local devices of the gaming network 1605and central system 1663, allows for the deployment of many advantageousfeatures. For example, a customer (e.g., an employee of a gamingestablishment) may be able to log onto an account of central system 1663to obtain the account information such as the customer's current andprior account status. Automatic updates of a customer's software mayalso be enabled. For example, central system 1663 may notify one or moredevices in gaming establishment 1605 regarding new products and/orproduct updates. For example, central system 1663 may notify server (orother device) in computer room 1620 regarding new software, softwareupdates, the status of current software licenses, etc. Alternatively,such updates could be automatically provided to a server in computerroom 1620 and downloaded to networked gaming machines.

After the local server receives this information, relevant products ofinterest may be identified (by the server, by another device or by ahuman being). If an update or a new software product is desired, it canbe downloaded from the central system. Similarly, a customer may chooseto renew a software license via a secure connection with central system1663, e.g., in response to a notification that the software license isrequired.

In addition, providing secure connections between different gamingestablishments can enable alternative implementations of the invention.For example, a number of gaming establishments may be owned and/orcontrolled by the same entity. In such situations, having securecommunications between gaming establishments makes it possible for agaming entity to use one or more servers in a gaming establishment as aninterface between central system 1663 and gaming machines in multiplegaming establishments. For example, new or updated software may beobtained by a server in one gaming establishment and distributed togaming machines in that gaming establishment and/or other gamingestablishments. A server in one gaming establishment may performservices, such as patron identification services, in response to arequest from a device in another gaming establishment.

FIG. 18 illustrates an example of a network device that may beconfigured for implementing some methods of the present invention.Network device 1860 includes a master central processing unit (CPU)1862, interfaces 1868, and a bus 1867 (e.g., a PCI bus). Generally,interfaces 1868 include ports 1869 appropriate for communication withthe appropriate media. In some embodiments, one or more of interfaces1868 includes at least one independent processor and, in some instances,volatile RAM. The independent processors may be, for example, ASICs orany other appropriate processors. According to some such embodiments,these independent processors perform at least some of the functions ofthe logic described herein. In some embodiments, one or more ofinterfaces 1868 control such communications-intensive tasks asencryption, decryption, compression, decompression, packetization, mediacontrol and management. By providing separate processors for thecommunications-intensive tasks, interfaces 1868 allow the mastermicroprocessor 1862 efficiently to perform other functions such asrouting computations, network diagnostics, security functions, etc.

The interfaces 1868 are typically provided as interface cards (sometimesreferred to as “linecards”). Generally, interfaces 1868 control thesending and receiving of data packets over the network and sometimessupport other peripherals used with the network device 1860. Among theinterfaces that may be provided are FC interfaces, Ethernet interfaces,frame relay interfaces, cable interfaces, DSL interfaces, token ringinterfaces, and the like. In addition, various very high-speedinterfaces may be provided, such as fast Ethernet interfaces, GigabitEthernet interfaces, ATM interfaces, HSSI interfaces, POS interfaces,FDDI interfaces, ASI interfaces, DHEI interfaces and the like.

When acting under the control of appropriate software or firmware, insome implementations of the invention CPU 1862 may be responsible forimplementing specific functions associated with the functions of adesired network device. According to some embodiments, CPU 1862accomplishes all these functions under the control of software includingan operating system and any appropriate applications software.

CPU 1862 may include one or more processors 1863 such as a processorfrom the Motorola family of microprocessors or the MIPS family ofmicroprocessors. In an alternative embodiment, processor 1863 isspecially designed hardware for controlling the operations of networkdevice 1860. In a specific embodiment, a memory 1861 (such asnon-volatile RAM and/or ROM) also forms part of CPU 1862. However, thereare many different ways in which memory could be coupled to the system.Memory block 1861 may be used for a variety of purposes such as, forexample, caching and/or storing data, programming instructions, etc.

Regardless of network device's configuration, it may employ one or morememories or memory modules (such as, for example, memory block 1865)configured to store data, program instructions for the general-purposenetwork operations and/or other information relating to thefunctionality of the techniques described herein. The programinstructions may control the operation of an operating system and/or oneor more applications, for example.

Because such information and program instructions may be employed toimplement the systems/methods described herein, the present inventionrelates to machine-readable media that include program instructions,state information, etc. for performing various operations describedherein. Examples of machine-readable media include, but are not limitedto, magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape;optical media such as CD-ROM disks; magneto-optical media; and hardwaredevices that are specially configured to store and perform programinstructions, such as read-only memory devices (ROM) and random accessmemory (RAM). The invention may also be embodied in a carrier wavetraveling over an appropriate medium such as airwaves, optical lines,electric lines, etc. Examples of program instructions include bothmachine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containinghigher-level code that may be executed by the computer using aninterpreter.

Although the system shown in FIG. 18 illustrates one specific networkdevice of the present invention, it is by no means the only networkdevice architecture on which the present invention can be implemented.For example, an architecture having a single processor that handlescommunications as well as routing computations, etc. is often used.Further, other types of interfaces and media could also be used with thenetwork device. The communication path between interfaces may be busbased (as shown in FIG. 18) or switch fabric based (such as across-bar).

Turning next to FIG. 19, one example of a video gaming machine 2 isshown. Machine 2 includes a main cabinet 4, which generally surroundsthe machine interior (not shown) and is viewable by users. The maincabinet includes a main door 8 on the front of the machine, which opensto provide access to the interior of the machine. Attached to the maindoor are player-input switches or buttons 32, a coin acceptor 28, and abill validator 30, a coin tray 38, and a belly glass 40. Viewablethrough the main door is a video display monitor 34 and an informationpanel 36. The display monitor 34 will typically be a cathode ray tube,high resolution flat-panel LCD, or other conventional electronicallycontrolled video monitor. The information panel 36 may be a back-lit,silk screened glass panel with lettering to indicate general gameinformation including, for example, a game denomination (e.g. $0.25 or$1). The bill validator 30, player-input switches 32, video displaymonitor 34, and information panel are devices used to play a game on thegame machine 2. The devices are controlled by circuitry (e.g. the mastergaming controller) housed inside the main cabinet 4 of the machine 2.

Many different types of games, including mechanical slot games, videoslot games, video poker, video black jack, video pachinko and lottery,may be provided with gaming machines of this invention. In particular,the gaming machine 2 may be operable to provide a play of many differentinstances of games of chance. The instances may be differentiatedaccording to themes, sounds, graphics, type of game (e.g., slot game vs.card game), denomination, number of paylines, maximum jackpot,progressive or non-progressive, bonus games, etc. The gaming machine 2may be operable to allow a player to select a game of chance to playfrom a plurality of instances available on the gaming machine. Forexample, the gaming machine may provide a menu with a list of theinstances of games that are available for play on the gaming machine anda player may be able to select from the list a first instance of a gameof chance that they wish to play.

The various instances of games available for play on the gaming machine2 may be stored as game software on a mass storage device in the gamingmachine or may be generated on a remote gaming device but then displayedon the gaming machine. The gaming machine 2 may executed game software,such as but not limited to video streaming software that allows the gameto be displayed on the gaming machine. When an instance is stored on thegaming machine 2, it may be loaded from the mass storage device into aRAM for execution. In some cases, after a selection of an instance, thegame software that allows the selected instance to be generated may bedownloaded from a remote gaming device, such as another gaming machine.

The gaming machine 2 includes a top box 6, which sits on top of the maincabinet 4. The top box 6 houses a number of devices, which may be usedto add features to a game being played on the gaming machine 2,including speakers 10, 12, 14, a ticket printer 18 which printsbar-coded tickets 20, a key pad 22 for entering player trackinginformation, a fluorescent display 16 for displaying player trackinginformation, a card reader 24 for entering a magnetic striped cardcontaining player tracking information, and a video display screen 42.The ticket printer 18 may be used to print tickets for a cashlessticketing system. Further, the top box 6 may house different oradditional devices than shown in FIG. 19. For example, the top box maycontain a bonus wheel or a back-lit silk screened panel which may beused to add bonus features to the game being played on the gamingmachine. As another example, the top box may contain a display for aprogressive jackpot offered on the gaming machine. During a game, thesedevices are controlled and powered, in part, by circuitry (e.g. a mastergaming controller) housed within the main cabinet 4 of the machine 2.

Understand that gaming machine 2 is but one example from a wide range ofgaming machine designs on which the present invention may beimplemented. For example, not all suitable gaming machines have topboxes or player tracking features. Further, some gaming machines haveonly a single game display—mechanical or video, while others aredesigned for bar tables and have displays that face upwards. As anotherexample, a game may be generated in on a host computer and may bedisplayed on a remote terminal or a remote gaming device. The remotegaming device may be connected to the host computer via a network ofsome type such as a local area network, a wide area network, an intranetor the Internet. The remote gaming device may be a portable gamingdevice such as but not limited to a cell phone, a personal digitalassistant, and a wireless game player. Images rendered from 3-D gamingenvironments may be displayed on portable gaming devices that are usedto play a game of chance. Further, a gaming machine or server mayinclude gaming logic for commanding a remote gaming device to render animage from a virtual camera in a 3-D gaming environments stored on theremote gaming device and to display the rendered image on a displaylocated on the remote gaming device. Thus, those of skill in the artwill understand that the present invention could be implemented onvarious types of gaming machines now available or that may hereafter bedeveloped.

Some gaming machines of the present assignee are implemented withspecial features and/or additional circuitry that differentiates themfrom general-purpose computers (e.g., desktop PC's and laptops). Gamingmachines are highly regulated to ensure fairness and, in many cases,gaming machines are operable to dispense monetary awards of multiplemillions of dollars. Therefore, to satisfy security and regulatoryrequirements in a gaming environment, hardware and softwarearchitectures may be implemented in gaming machines that differsignificantly from those of general-purpose computers. A description ofgaming machines relative to general-purpose computing machines and someexamples of the additional (or different) components and features foundin gaming machines are described below. This description is made only byway of illustration and is not intended to be limiting in any way.

At first glance, one might think that adapting PC technologies to thegaming industry would be a simple proposition because both PCs andgaming machines employ microprocessors that control a variety ofdevices. However, because of such reasons as 1) the regulatoryrequirements that are placed upon gaming machines, 2) the harshenvironment in which gaming machines operate, 3) security requirementsand 4) fault tolerance requirements, adapting PC technologies to agaming machine can be quite difficult. Further, techniques and methodsfor solving a problem in the PC industry, such as device compatibilityand connectivity issues, might not be adequate in the gamingenvironment. For instance, a fault or a weakness tolerated in a PC, suchas security holes in software or frequent crashes, may not be toleratedin a gaming machine because in a gaming machine these faults can lead toa direct loss of funds from the gaming machine, such as stolen cash orloss of revenue when the gaming machine is not operating properly.

For the purposes of illustration, a few differences between PC systemsand preferred gaming systems will be described. A first differencebetween gaming machines and common PC based computers systems is thatgaming machines are designed to be state-based systems. In a state-basedsystem, the system stores and maintains its current state in anon-volatile memory, such that, in the event of a power failure or othermalfunction the gaming machine will return to its current state when thepower is restored. For instance, if a player was shown an award for agame of chance and, before the award could be provided to the player thepower failed, the gaming machine, upon the restoration of power, wouldreturn to the state where the award is indicated. As anyone who has useda PC, knows, PCs are not state machines and a majority of data isusually lost when a malfunction occurs. This requirement affects thesoftware and hardware design on a gaming machine.

A second important difference between gaming machines and common PCbased computer systems is that for regulation purposes, the software onthe gaming machine used to generate the game of chance and operate thegaming machine may have been designed to be static and monolithic toprevent cheating by the operator of gaming machine. For instance, onesolution that has been employed in the gaming industry to preventcheating and satisfy regulatory requirements has been to manufacture agaming machine that can use a proprietary processor running instructionsto generate the game of chance from an EPROM or other form ofnon-volatile memory. The coding instructions on the EPROM are static(non-changeable) and must be approved by a gaming regulators in aparticular jurisdiction and installed in the presence of a personrepresenting the gaming jurisdiction. Any changes to any part of thesoftware required to generate the game of chance, such as adding a newdevice driver used by the master gaming controller to operate a deviceduring generation of the game of chance can require a new EPROM to beburnt, approved by the gaming jurisdiction and reinstalled on the gamingmachine in the presence of a gaming regulator. Regardless of whether theEPROM solution is used, to gain approval in most gaming jurisdictions, agaming machine must demonstrate sufficient safeguards that prevent anoperator or player of a gaming machine from manipulating hardware andsoftware in a manner that gives them an unfair and some cases an illegaladvantage. The gaming machine should have a means to determine if thecode it will execute is valid. If the code is not valid, the gamingmachine must have a means to prevent the code from being executed. Thecode validation requirements in the gaming industry affect both hardwareand software designs on gaming machines.

A third important difference between some gaming machines and common PCbased computer systems is the number and kinds of peripheral devicesused on a gaming machine are not as great as on PC based computersystems. Traditionally, in the gaming industry, gaming machines havebeen relatively simple in the sense that the number of peripheraldevices and the number of functions the gaming machine has been limited.Further, in operation, the functionality of gaming machines wererelatively constant once the gaming machine was deployed, i.e., newperipherals devices and new gaming software were infrequently added tothe gaming machine. This differs from a PC where users will go out andbuy different combinations of devices and software from differentmanufacturers and connect them to a PC to suit their needs depending ona desired application. Therefore, the types of devices connected to a PCmay vary greatly from user to user depending in their individualrequirements and may vary significantly over time.

Although the variety of devices available for a PC may be greater thanon a gaming machine, gaming machines may still have unique devicerequirements that differ from a PC, such as device security requirementsnot usually addressed by PCs. For instance, monetary devices, such ascoin dispensers, bill validators and ticket printers and computingdevices that are used to govern the input and output of cash to a gamingmachine have security requirements that are not typically addressed inPCs. Therefore, many PC techniques and methods developed to facilitatedevice connectivity and device compatibility do not address the emphasisplaced on security in the gaming industry.

To address some of the issues described above, some gaming machines mayinclude a number of hardware/software components and architectures maybe utilized in that are not typically found in general purpose computingdevices, such as PCs. These hardware/software components andarchitectures, as described below in more detail, include but are notlimited to watchdog timers, voltage monitoring systems, state-basedsoftware architecture and supporting hardware, specialized communicationinterfaces, security monitoring and trusted memory.

A watchdog timer is normally used in IGT gaming machines to provide asoftware failure detection mechanism. In a normally operating system,the operating software periodically accesses control registers in thewatchdog timer subsystem to “re-trigger” the watchdog. Should theoperating software fail to access the control registers within a presettimeframe, the watchdog timer will timeout and generate a system reset.Typical watchdog timer circuits contain a loadable timeout counterregister to allow the operating software to set the timeout intervalwithin a certain range of time. A differentiating feature of the somepreferred circuits is that the operating software cannot completelydisable the function of the watchdog timer. In other words, the watchdogtimer always functions from the time power is applied to the board.

IGT gaming computer platforms preferably use several power supplyvoltages to operate portions of the computer circuitry. These can begenerated in a central power supply or locally on the computer board. Ifany of these voltages falls out of the tolerance limits of the circuitrythey power, unpredictable operation of the computer may result. Thoughmost modern general-purpose computers include voltage monitoringcircuitry, these types of circuits only report voltage status to theoperating software. Out of tolerance voltages can cause softwaremalfunction, creating a potential uncontrolled condition in the gamingcomputer. Gaming machines of the present assignee typically have powersupplies with tighter voltage margins than that required by theoperating circuitry. In addition, the voltage monitoring circuitryimplemented in IGT gaming computers typically has two thresholds ofcontrol. The first threshold generates a software event that can bedetected by the operating software and an error condition generated.This threshold is triggered when a power supply voltage falls out of thetolerance range of the power supply, but is still within the operatingrange of the circuitry. The second threshold is set when a power supplyvoltage falls out of the operating tolerance of the circuitry. In thiscase, the circuitry generates a reset, halting operation of thecomputer.

The standard method of operation for IGT slot machine game software isto use a state machine. Different functions of the game (bet, play,result, points in the graphical presentation, etc.) may be defined as astate. When a game moves from one state to another, critical dataregarding the game software is stored in a custom non-volatile memorysubsystem. This is critical to ensure the player's wager and credits arepreserved and to minimize potential disputes in the event of amalfunction on the gaming machine.

In general, the gaming machine does not advance from a first state to asecond state until critical information that allows the first state tobe reconstructed is stored. This feature allows the game to recoveroperation to the current state of play in the event of a malfunction,loss of power, etc that occurred just prior to the malfunction. Afterthe state of the gaming machine is restored during the play of a game ofchance, game play may resume and the game may be completed in a mannerthat is no different than if the malfunction had not occurred.Typically, battery backed RAM devices are used to preserve this criticaldata although other types of non-volatile memory devices may beemployed. These memory devices are not used in typical general-purposecomputers.

As described in the preceding paragraph, when a malfunction occursduring a game of chance, the gaming machine may be restored to a statein the game of chance just prior to when the malfunction occurred. Therestored state may include metering information and graphicalinformation that was displayed on the gaming machine in the state priorto the malfunction. For example, when the malfunction occurs during theplay of a card game after the cards have been dealt, the gaming machinemay be restored with the cards that were previously displayed as part ofthe card game. As another example, a bonus game may be triggered duringthe play of a game of chance where a player is required to make a numberof selections on a video display screen. When a malfunction has occurredafter the player has made one or more selections, the gaming machine maybe restored to a state that shows the graphical presentation at the justprior to the malfunction including an indication of selections that havealready been made by the player. In general, the gaming machine may berestored to any state in a plurality of states that occur in the game ofchance that occurs while the game of chance is played or to states thatoccur between the play of a game of chance.

Game history information regarding previous games played such as anamount wagered, the outcome of the game and so forth may also be storedin a non-volatile memory device. The information stored in thenon-volatile memory may be detailed enough to reconstruct a portion ofthe graphical presentation that was previously presented on the gamingmachine and the state of the gaming machine (e.g., credits) at the timethe game of chance was played. The game history information may beutilized in the event of a dispute. For example, a player may decidethat in a previous game of chance that they did not receive credit foran award that they believed they won. The game history information maybe used to reconstruct the state of the gaming machine prior, duringand/or after the disputed game to demonstrate whether the player wascorrect or not in their assertion.

Another feature of gaming machines, such as some IGT gaming computers,is that they often contain unique interfaces, including serialinterfaces, to connect to specific subsystems internal and external tothe slot machine. The serial devices may have electrical interfacerequirements that differ from the “standard” EIA 232 serial interfacesprovided by general-purpose computers. These interfaces may include EIA485, EIA 422, Fiber Optic Serial, optically coupled serial interfaces,current loop style serial interfaces, etc. In addition, to conserveserial interfaces internally in the slot machine, serial devices may beconnected in a shared, daisy-chain fashion where multiple peripheraldevices are connected to a single serial channel.

The serial interfaces may be used to transmit information usingcommunication protocols that are unique to the gaming industry. Forexample, IGT's Netplex is a proprietary communication protocol used forserial communication between gaming devices. As another example, SAS isa communication protocol used to transmit information, such as meteringinformation, from a gaming machine to a remote device. Often SAS is usedin conjunction with a player tracking system.

IGT gaming machines may alternatively be treated as peripheral devicesto a casino communication controller and connected in a shared daisychain fashion to a single serial interface. In both cases, theperipheral devices are preferably assigned device addresses. If so, theserial controller circuitry must implement a method to generate ordetect unique device addresses. General-purpose computer serial portsare not able to do this.

Security monitoring circuits may detect intrusion into an IGT gamingmachine by monitoring security switches attached to access doors in theslot machine cabinet. Preferably, access violations result in suspensionof game play and can trigger additional security operations to preservethe current state of game play. These circuits also function when poweris off by use of a battery backup. In power-off operation, thesecircuits continue to monitor the access doors of the slot machine. Whenpower is restored, the gaming machine can determine whether any securityviolations occurred while power was off, e.g., via software for readingstatus registers. This can trigger event log entries and further dataauthentication operations by the slot machine software.

Trusted memory devices are preferably included in an IGT gaming machinecomputer to ensure the authenticity of the software that may be storedon less secure memory subsystems, such as mass storage devices. Trustedmemory devices and controlling circuitry are typically designed to notallow modification of the code and data stored in the memory devicewhile the memory device is installed in the slot machine. The code anddata stored in these devices may include authentication algorithms,random number generators, authentication keys, operating system kernels,etc. The purpose of these trusted memory devices is to provide gamingregulatory authorities a root trusted authority within the computingenvironment of the slot machine that can be tracked and verified asoriginal. This may be accomplished via removal of the trusted memorydevice from the slot machine computer and verification of the securememory device contents is a separate third party verification device.Once the trusted memory device is verified as authentic, and based onthe approval of the verification algorithms contained in the trusteddevice, the gaming machine is allowed to verify the authenticity ofadditional code and data that may be located in the gaming computerassembly, such as code and data stored on hard disk drives. A fewdetails related to trusted memory devices that may be used in thepresent invention are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,685,567 from U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/925,098, filed Aug. 8, 2001 and titled“Process Verification,” which is incorporated herein in its entirety andfor all purposes.

Mass storage devices used in a general purpose computer typically allowcode and data to be read from and written to the mass storage device. Ina gaming machine environment, modification of the gaming code stored ona mass storage device is strictly controlled and would only be allowedunder specific conditions, e.g., for maintenance type events, withelectronic and physical enablers required. Though this level of securitymay provided by software, IGT gaming computers that include mass storagedevices preferably include hardware level mass storage data protectioncircuitry that operates at the circuit level to monitor attempts tomodify data on the mass storage device and will generate both softwareand hardware error triggers should a data modification be attemptedwithout the proper electronic and physical enablers being present.

Returning to the example of FIG. 19, when a user wishes to play thegaming machine 2, he or she inserts cash through the coin acceptor 28 orbill validator 30. Additionally, the bill validator may accept a printedticket voucher which may be accepted by the bill validator 30 as anindicium of credit when a cashless ticketing system is used. At thestart of the game, the player may enter playing tracking informationusing the card reader 24, the keypad 22, and the fluorescent display 16.Further, other game preferences of the player playing the game may beread from a card inserted into the card reader. During the game, theplayer views game information using the video display 34. Other game andprize information may also be displayed in the video display screen 42located in the top box.

During the course of a game, a player may be required to make a numberof decisions, which affect the outcome of the game. For example, aplayer may vary his or her wager on a particular game, select a prizefor a particular game selected from a prize server, or make gamedecisions that affect the outcome of a particular game. The player maymake these choices using the player-input switches 32, the video displayscreen 34 or using some other device which enables a player to inputinformation into the gaming machine. In some embodiments, the player maybe able to access various game services such as concierge services andentertainment content services using the video display screen 34 and onemore input devices.

During certain game events, the gaming machine 2 may display visual andauditory effects that can be perceived by the player. These effects addto the excitement of a game, which makes a player more likely tocontinue playing. Auditory effects include various sounds that areprojected by the speakers 10, 12, 14. Visual effects include flashinglights, strobing lights or other patterns displayed from lights on thegaming machine 2 or from lights behind the belly glass 40. After theplayer has completed a game, the player may receive game tokens from thecoin tray 38 or the ticket 20 from the printer 18, which may be used forfurther games or to redeem a prize. Further, the player may receive aticket 20 for food, merchandise, or games from the printer 18.

A gaming network that may be used to implement additional methodsperformed in accordance with embodiments of the invention is depicted inFIG. 20. Gaming establishment 2001 could be any sort of gamingestablishment, such as a casino, a card room, an airport, a store, etc.In this example, gaming network 2077 includes more than one gamingestablishment, all of which are networked to game server 2022.

Here, gaming machine 2002, and the other gaming machines 2030, 2032,2034, and 2036, include a main cabinet 2006 and a top box 2004. The maincabinet 2006 houses the main gaming elements and can also houseperipheral systems, such as those that utilize dedicated gamingnetworks. The top box 2004 may also be used to house these peripheralsystems.

The master gaming controller 2008 controls the game play on the gamingmachine 2002 according to instructions and/or game data from game server2022 or stored within gaming machine 2002 and receives or sends data tovarious input/output devices 2011 on the gaming machine 2002. In oneembodiment, master gaming controller 2008 comprises a logic system thatincludes logic devices such as processor(s), programmable logic devicesand/or other apparatus of the gaming machines described elsewhereherein. The master gaming controller 2008 may have its own memory and/ormay communicate with other memory devices inside or outside of gamingmachine 2002. The master gaming controller 2008 may also communicatewith a display 2010.

A particular gaming entity may desire to provide network gaming servicesthat provide some operational advantage. Thus, dedicated networks mayconnect gaming machines to host servers that track the performance ofgaming machines under the control of the entity, such as for accountingmanagement, electronic fund transfers (EFTs), cashless ticketing, suchas EZPay™, marketing management, and data tracking, such as playertracking. Therefore, master gaming controller 2008 may also communicatewith EFT system 2012, EZPay™ system 2016 (a proprietary cashlessticketing system of the present assignee), and player tracking system2020. The systems of the gaming machine 2002 communicate the data ontothe network 2022 via a communication board 2018.

It will be appreciated by those of skill in the art that embodiments ofthe present invention could be implemented on a network with more orfewer elements than are depicted in FIG. 20. For example, playertracking system 2020 is not a necessary feature of some implementationsof the present invention. However, player tracking programs may help tosustain a game player's interest in additional game play during a visitto a gaming establishment and may entice a player to visit a gamingestablishment to partake in various gaming activities. Player trackingprograms provide rewards to players that typically correspond to theplayer's level of patronage (e.g., to the player's playing frequencyand/or total amount of game plays at a given casino). Player trackingrewards may be free meals, free lodging and/or free entertainment.Moreover, player tracking information may be combined with otherinformation that is now readily obtainable by an SBG system.

Moreover, DCU 2024 and translator 2025 are not required for all gamingestablishments 2001. However, due to the sensitive nature of much of theinformation on a gaming network (e.g., electronic fund transfers andplayer tracking data) the manufacturer of a host system usually employsa particular networking language having proprietary protocols. Forinstance, 10-20 different companies produce player tracking host systemswhere each host system may use different protocols. These proprietaryprotocols are usually considered highly confidential and not releasedpublicly.

Further, in the gaming industry, gaming machines are made by manydifferent manufacturers. The communication protocols on the gamingmachine are typically hard-wired into the gaming machine and each gamingmachine manufacturer may utilize a different proprietary communicationprotocol. A gaming machine manufacturer may also produce host systems,in which case their gaming machines are compatible with their own hostsystems. However, in a heterogeneous gaming environment, gaming machinesfrom different manufacturers, each with its own communication protocol,may be connected to host systems from other manufacturers, each withanother communication protocol. Therefore, communication compatibilityissues regarding the protocols used by the gaming machines in the systemand protocols used by the host systems must be considered.

A network device that links a gaming establishment with another gamingestablishment and/or a central system will sometimes be referred toherein as a “site controller.” Here, site controller 2042 provides thisfunction for gaming establishment 2001. Site controller 2042 isconnected to a central system and/or other gaming establishments via oneor more networks, which may be public or private networks. Among otherthings, site controller 2042 communicates with game server 2022 toobtain game data, such as ball drop data, bingo card data, etc.

In the present illustration, gaming machines 2002, 2030, 2032, 2034 and2036 are connected to a dedicated gaming network 2022. In general, theDCU 2024 functions as an intermediary between the different gamingmachines on the network 2022 and the site controller 2042. In general,the DCU 2024 receives data transmitted from the gaming machines andsends the data to the site controller 2042 over a transmission path2026. In some instances, when the hardware interface used by the gamingmachine is not compatible with site controller 2042, a translator 2025may be used to convert serial data from the DCU 2024 to a formataccepted by site controller 2042. The translator may provide thisconversion service to a plurality of DCUs.

Further, in some dedicated gaming networks, the DCU 2024 can receivedata transmitted from site controller 2042 for communication to thegaming machines on the gaming network. The received data may be, forexample, communicated synchronously to the gaming machines on the gamingnetwork.

Here, CVT 2052 provides cashless and cashout gaming services to thegaming machines in gaming establishment 2001. Broadly speaking, CVT 2052authorizes and validates cashless gaming machine instruments (alsoreferred to herein as “tickets” or “vouchers”), including but notlimited to tickets for causing a gaming machine to display a game resultand cash-out tickets. Moreover, CVT 2052 authorizes the exchange of acashout ticket for cash. These processes will be described in detailbelow. In one example, when a player attempts to redeem a cash-outticket for cash at cashout kiosk 2044, cash out kiosk 2044 readsvalidation data from the cashout ticket and transmits the validationdata to CVT 2052 for validation. The tickets may be printed by gamingmachines, by cashout kiosk 2044, by a stand-alone printer, by CVT 2052,etc. Some gaming establishments will not have a cashout kiosk 2044.Instead, a cashout ticket could be redeemed for cash by a cashier (e.g.of a convenience store), by a gaming machine or by a speciallyconfigured CVT.

The above-described methods, devices and materials will be familiar tothose of skill in the gaming industry and/or in the computer hardwareand software arts. Although many of the components and processes aredescribed above in the singular for convenience, it will be appreciatedby one of skill in the art that multiple components and repeatedprocesses can also be used to practice the techniques of the presentinvention.

Although illustrative embodiments and applications of this invention areshown and described herein, many variations and modifications arepossible which remain within the concept, scope, and spirit of theinvention, and these variations would become clear to those of ordinaryskill in the art after perusal of this application. Accordingly, thepresent embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and notrestrictive, and the invention is not to be limited to the details givenherein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of theappended claims.

For example, some implementations of the invention provide for theaggregation of patron data, including patron event data, according toselected patron categories. Patron data that are stored for individualpatrons may be analyzed to determine characteristics of patrons in asimilar category, e.g., a similar age range, player loyalty programlevel, wager gaming characteristics (e.g., game type preference,wager/denomination level, volatility preferences, etc.), favoritebeverage (e.g., beer drinkers, wine drinkers, Scotch drinkers, Cosmodrinkers), level of retail spending, level of food and/or beveragespending, etc. Such characteristics may be used for various purposes,e.g., for predictive modeling of future events, to make an educatedguess regarding the preferences of a patron for whom relatively littleis known, etc.

Depending on the amount of data to be evaluated and potentially storedregarding patrons, it may be advantageous to store data in a dimensionaldatabase structure. Multi-dimensional database achieve performancelevels that are well in excess of that of relational systems performingsimilar data storage requirements. These high performance levelsencourage and enable On Line Analytical Processing (“OLAP”) and othersuch applications that can provide the ability to analyze large amountsof data with very fast response times.

1. An apparatus, comprising: an interface system comprising at least onenetwork interface; a logic system comprising at least one logic device,the logic system configured to do the following: receive, via theinterface system, a request from a patron and location informationregarding the patron's location; assess currently available optionscorresponding with the patron's location; determine whether a currentlyavailable option matches the request; apply predetermined criteria todetermine an offer if it is determined that no currently availableoption matches the request, the predetermined criteria comprising thecurrently available options and patron preference data; and transmit theoffer to a device associated with the patron via the interface system.2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the applying comprises determininga currently available option that most nearly matches the request. 3.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the applying comprises determining arank of each of a plurality of currently available options.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the applying comprises determining a rankof each of a plurality of entities, each entity corresponding to atleast one option.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the applyingcomprises applying a weighting function to at least some of a pluralityof currently available options.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein therequest comprises a wager gaming request.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the request comprises at least one of a food-related request, abeverage-related request, an entertainment-related request or a shoppingrequest.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the applying comprisesdetermining an offer that involves a first available option in a firstlocation of the gaming establishment and wherein the first availableoption is determined, at least in part, because of a second availableoption near the first location.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theapplying comprises determining an offer that involves a first availableoption in a first location of the gaming establishment and wherein thefirst available option is determined, at least in part, because of asecond available option within a predetermined radius of the firstlocation.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the applying comprisesdetermining an offer that involves a first available option in a firstlocation of the gaming establishment and wherein the first availableoption is determined, at least in part, because of a second availableoption along a path between the patron's location and the firstlocation.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the logic system isfurther configured to obtain at least some of the patron preference datafrom a player loyalty database.
 12. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe predetermined criteria comprise retailer preference data indicatingpreferences of at least one retailer.
 13. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the predetermined criteria indicate preferences of at least oneof a retailer, a food provider, a beverage provider or an entertainmentprovider.
 14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the logic system isconfigured to download at least one of data or software to the deviceassociated with the patron if an offer acceptance indication is receivedfrom the device associated with the patron.
 15. The apparatus of claim1, wherein the predetermined criteria comprise gambling restrictions ofat least one jurisdiction.
 16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thelocation information comprises radio frequency identification (“RFID”)data from an RFID reader and wherein the logic system is configured todetermine the patron's location according to a location of the RFIDreader.
 17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the logic system isconfigured to determine the patron's location according to a closestaccess point method, a triangulation process, a radio frequencyfingerprinting process a radio frequency identification process or aGlobal Positioning System process.
 18. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe logic system is configured to determine a jurisdiction in which thepatron is currently located according to the location information. 19.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the assessing comprises assessing theavailable options of a gaming establishment if the logic systemdetermines that the patron is currently in, or in the vicinity of, thegaming establishment.
 20. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the rank ofat least one entity depends on the patron's location.
 21. The apparatusof claim 4, wherein the logic system is configured to change the rank ofat least one entity when the patron is determined to be in apredetermined area.
 22. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the logicsystem determines that the rank of one entity's preferences is higherthan the rank of the patron's preferences when the patron is within apredetermined area.
 23. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the logicsystem is configured to determine a rank of at least one entityaccording to a monetary contribution of that entity.
 24. The apparatusof claim 5, wherein the weighting function applies a value topreferences of a third party according to the relative monetarycontributions of the third party.
 25. The apparatus of claim 5, whereinthe weighting function applies a relatively higher value for preferencesof patrons in a higher rank of a player loyalty program.
 26. A method,comprising: determining a patron's location; assessing available optionsin a gaming establishment corresponding with the patron's location;applying predetermined criteria to determine an offer, the predeterminedcriteria comprising the available options and preference data, thepreference data comprising patron preference data, casino preferencedata and third party preference data; and providing the offer to thepatron.
 27. The method of claim 26, further comprising receiving arequest from the patron, wherein the applying comprises comparing therequest with the predetermined criteria.
 28. The method of claim 26,wherein the determining comprises determining the patron's location inthe gaming establishment.
 29. The method of claim 26, wherein theapplying comprises determining a rank for at least one type ofpreference data.
 30. The method of claim 26, wherein the applyingcomprises applying a weighting function to at least one type ofpreference data.
 31. The method of claim 26, wherein the applyingcomprises determining an offer that involves a first available option ina first location of the gaming establishment and wherein the firstavailable option is determined, at least in part, because of a secondavailable option near the first location.
 32. The method of claim 26,wherein the applying comprises determining an offer that involves afirst available option in a first location of the gaming establishmentand wherein the first available option is determined, at least in part,because of a second available option within a predetermined radius ofthe first location.
 33. The method of claim 26, wherein the applyingcomprises determining an offer that involves a first available option ina first location of the gaming establishment and wherein the firstavailable option is determined, at least in part, because of a secondavailable option along a path between the patron's location and thefirst location.
 34. The method of claim 26, wherein the patronpreference data comprise the patron's personal preferences.
 35. Themethod of claim 26, wherein the patron preference data comprisepreferences of one or more categories of patron demographics.
 36. Themethod of claim 26, wherein at least one of the available optionscorresponds with the patron's location in the gaming establishment. 37.The method of claim 26, wherein the casino preference data comprisepreferences of at least one of a casino operator, a gaming machineprovider or a casino manager.
 38. The method of claim 26, wherein thethird party preference data comprise retailer preference data indicatingpreferences of at least one retailer.
 39. The method of claim 26,wherein the third party preference data comprise preferences of at leastone food provider or at least one beverage provider.
 40. The method ofclaim 26, wherein at least some of the preference data correspond to apromotional campaign.
 41. The method of claim 26, wherein the thirdparty preference data comprise preferences of at least one entertainmentprovider.
 42. The method of claim 26, wherein the predetermined criteriaindicate gambling restrictions of at least one jurisdiction.
 43. Themethod of claim 26, wherein at least some of the predetermined criteriaare time-dependent.
 44. The method of claim 26, wherein the patronpreference data comprise data from a player loyalty accountcorresponding to the patron.
 45. The method of claim 27, wherein therequest comprises a wager gaming request.
 46. The method of claim 27,further comprising determining that the request is for an unavailableoption, wherein the applying step comprises determining an alternativeavailable option.
 47. The method of claim 27, wherein the requestcomprises at least one of a food-related request, a beverage-relatedrequest, an entertainment-related request or a shopping request.
 48. Themethod of claim 28, wherein the determining comprises at least one of aclosest access point method, a triangulation process, a radio frequencyfingerprinting process a radio frequency identification process or aGlobal Positioning System process.
 49. The method of claim 29, whereindetermining at least one rank comprises determining whether the patronis within a predetermined area.
 50. The method of claim 29, wherein apatron's rank is determined, at least in part, by reference to a playerloyalty account associated with the patron.
 51. The method of claim 30,wherein applying a weighting function comprises applying a relativelyhigher value for preferences of patrons in a relatively higher rank of aplayer loyalty program.
 52. The method of claim 30, wherein applying aweighting function comprises applying a value to preferences of a thirdparty according to the relative monetary contributions of the thirdparty.
 53. The method of claim 31, wherein the first available optioncomprises a wager gaming option and wherein the second available optioncomprises one of a retail option, a food option, a beverage option or anentertainment option.
 54. The method of claim 31, wherein the firstavailable option comprises a first type of wager gaming option andwherein the second available option comprises a second type of wagergaming option.
 55. The method of claim 32, wherein the first availableoption comprises a wager gaming option and wherein the second availableoption comprises one of a retail option, a food option, a beverageoption or an entertainment option.
 56. The method of claim 35, whereinthe categories of patron demographics comprise at least one of ageranges or gender.
 57. The method of claim 46, wherein determining analternative available option comprises determining an alternativeavailable option that most nearly matches the request.
 58. The method ofclaim 46, wherein the determining of an alternative available optioncomprises applying a weighting function to a plurality of availableoptions.
 59. The method of claim 58, wherein the weighting functionapplies a relatively higher value for preferences of patrons in a higherrank of a player loyalty program.
 60. The method of claim 59, whereinthe weighting function applies a value to preferences of a third partyaccording to the relative monetary contributions of the third party. 61.A system, comprising: means for receiving a request from a patron; meansfor determining the patron's location; means for assessing availableoptions in a gaming establishment corresponding with the patron'slocation; means for applying predetermined criteria to determine anoffer, the predetermined criteria comprising the available options andpreference data, the preference data comprising patron preference data,casino preference data and third party preference data; and means fortransmitting the offer to a device associated with the patron.
 62. Thesystem of claim 61, wherein the means for determining the patron'slocation comprises at least one of a Global Positioning System device, acellular telephone tower, a cellular telephone, a personal digitalassistant, a radio frequency identification (“RFID”) tag or an RFIDreader.
 63. The system of claim 61, wherein the means for determiningthe patron's location comprises a logic device that determines thepatron's location according to input from at least one of a GlobalPositioning System device, a cellular telephone tower, a cellulartelephone, a personal digital assistant, a radio frequencyidentification (“RFID”) tag or an RFID reader.
 64. The system of claim61, wherein at least one of the assessing means or the applying meanscomprises a server.
 65. The system of claim 61, wherein the applyingmeans is configured for determining an alternative available option ifthe assessing means determines that the request is for an unavailableoption.
 66. The system of claim 61, wherein the offer involves a firstavailable option in a first location of the gaming establishment andwherein at least one of the predetermined criteria involves a secondavailable option near the first location.
 67. The system of claim 61,wherein the offer involves a first available option in a first locationof the gaming establishment and wherein at least one of thepredetermined criteria involves a second available option within apredetermined radius of the first location.
 68. The system of claim 61,wherein the offer involves a first available option in a first locationof the gaming establishment and wherein at least one of thepredetermined criteria involves a second available option along a pathbetween the patron's location and the first location.
 69. The system ofclaim 61, wherein the device associated with the patron is a mobiledevice.
 70. The system of claim 61, wherein the device associated withthe patron comprises a wager gaming machine.
 71. The system of claim 61,further comprising means for assessing available options in ajurisdiction corresponding with the patron's location, wherein, if themeans for determining the patron's location determines that the deviceassociated with the patron is not in or near a gaming establishment, theapplying means applies rules of the jurisdiction as part of determiningthe offer.
 72. The system of claim 61, wherein the request comprises agaming request, further comprising means for providing a game to thedevice associated with the patron if the patron accepts the offer. 73.The system of claim 65, wherein determining an alternative availableoption comprises determining an alternative available option that mostnearly matches the request.
 74. The system of claim 65, wherein thedetermining of an alternative available option comprises applying aweighting function to a plurality of available options.
 75. The systemof claim 74, wherein the weighting function applies a relatively highervalue for preferences of patrons in a higher rank of a player loyaltyprogram.
 76. The system of claim 74, wherein the weighting functionapplies a value to preferences of a third party according to therelative monetary contributions of the third party.
 77. A system,comprising: a location determining system that is configured todetermining a patron's location; an interface system configured forreceiving a request from a patron; a logic system comprising at leastone logic device, the logic system configured to do the following:assess available options in a gaming establishment corresponding withthe patron's location; apply predetermined criteria to determine anoffer, the predetermined criteria comprising the available options andpreference data, the preference data comprising patron preference data,casino preference data and third party preference data; and cause theoffer to be transmitted, via the interface system, to a deviceassociated with the patron.
 78. The system of claim 77, wherein theinterface system comprises a network interface.
 79. The system of claim77, wherein the interface system comprises a wireless interface.
 80. Thesystem of claim 77, wherein the location determining system comprises atleast one of a Global Positioning System device, a cellular telephonetower, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant, a radiofrequency identification (“RFID”) tag, or an RFID reader.
 81. The systemof claim 77, wherein the location determining system comprises at leastone device configured for locating wireless devices via closest accesspoint, triangulation or RF fingerprinting methods.
 82. The system ofclaim 77, wherein at least one logic device comprises a processor. 83.The system of claim 77, wherein a server comprises at least part of thelogic system.
 84. The system of claim 77, wherein the logic system isfurther configured to determine whether the request is for anunavailable option, and wherein the applying step comprises determiningan alternative available option if the request is for an unavailableoption.
 85. The system of claim 77, wherein the patron request comprisesa preferred denomination for wager gaming.
 86. The system of claim 77,wherein the patron request comprises a request pertaining to a group ofpatrons.
 87. A method, comprising: determining a patron's location in agaming establishment; determining whether a location-based bonuscorresponds with the patron's location, the location-based bonus notbeing associated with a wager gaming session that currently involves thepatron; and providing the location-based bonus to the patron if it isdetermined that the location-based bonus corresponds with the patron'slocation.